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Armenian  Massacres 

OR 

The  Sword  of  Mohammed 

CONTAINING 

A  COMPLETE  AND  THRILLING  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  TERRIBLE 

ATROCITIES  AND  WHOLESALE  MURDERS  COMMITTED 

IN   ARMENIA   BY   MOHAMMEDAN   FANATICS 

INCLUDING 

A  FULL  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  TURKISH  PEOPLE,  THEIR  HISTORY, 

GOVERNMENT,  MANNERS,  CUSTOMS  AND 

STRANGE  RELIGIOUS  BELIEF 

BY  FREDERICK  DAVIS  GREENE,  M.A. 

Sepretary  of  the  National  Relief  Committee  and  late  Missionary  to  Armenia. 
TO  WHICH  IS  ADDED 

THE  MOHAMMEDAN  REIGN  OF 
TERROR  IN  ARMENIA 

EDITED  BY 

Henry  Davenport  Northrop,  D.D. 

The  well-known  author. 


Embellished    with    nearly    lOO    Engravingfs    showing    the 
Characteristics  of  the  People,  Massacres,  etc^  etc* 


INTERNATIONAL  PUBLISHING  CO., 

PHILADELPHIA  &  CHICAGO. 


ijntered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1896,  by 

J.     R.    JONES, 

In  the  Ofl&ce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C 

All  Rights  Reserved. 


[Letter  from  the  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  to  the  author    " 


^UiU^rt4.*^u^ 


.[,j^4<lt^^' 


\L^s.  f 


^nti4ij^ 


Dear  Sir  : 

I  am  glad  to  hear  that  your  work  is  about  to  be  pitblished. 
I  believe  it  will  materially  assist  in  arousing  public  atten- 
tion to  the  recent  outrages  in  Armenia  which  almost  p-asa 
description  and  have  inflicted  indelible  disgrace  on  tlie  Su'tan 
of  Turkey  and  on  his  officers  and  soldiers  concerned  in  perpe- 
trating, in  denying  and  in  shielding  them. 
I  remain,  dear  sir, 

Your  very  faithful  and  obedient 
To  Rev.  F.  D.  Green.  W.  E.  Gladstonp:. 

[The  alK)ve  is  a  copj'  of  Mr.  Cladstotie's  aiitojjraph  letter.] 


TO    I'HE  MEMORY 

OF  THE 

CHRISTIANS   MASSACRED   IN  ARMENIA 

BY  THE 

SWORD   OF   MOHAMMED 

THIS  WORK 

IS  DEDICATED 

THE  PUBLISHERS. 


i 


/9^ 


INTRODUCTION. 

THIS  is  an  important  book.  It  deals  with  a 
burning  question,  and  in  a  way  which  will 
command  public  attention  and  public  confi- 
dence. 

The  author  is  thoroughly  equipped  for  his  task. 
Birth,  residence,  and  travel  in  Turkey  have  made 
him  personally  acquainted  with  the  situation  which 
he  discusses,  and  the  independence  of  his  position 
enables  him  to  write  without  restraint  and  without 
prejudice.  After  nearly  four  years  of  service  as  a 
missionary  of  the  American  Board  in  Van,  the  centre 
of  Armenia,  during  which  no  criticism  of  his  course 
was  ever  made  either  by  the  Board  or  by  the  Turk- 
ish Government,  he  was  recently  ordered  by  his 
physician  to  return  to  America.  Having  resigned 
his  connection  with  the  American  Board,  he  writes 
as  the  representative  of  no  society,  religious  or  po- 
litical, and  is  connected  with  none.  In  issuing  this 
book  he  is  simply  discharging  what  to  him  is  a 
personal  and  unavoidable  obligation ;  and  as  he 
frankly  avows  its  authorship,  it  will  be  impossible 
for  the  Turkish  Government  to  hold  any  one  else 
responsible  for  it. 

The  author  shows  that  the  case  of  the  subject 
races  in  the  Ottoman  Empire  is  desperate,  that  there 
is  no  hope  of  reform  from  within,  and  that  relief 


19S741H 


vi  Introduction, 

must  therefore  come  through  the  interference  of  the 
powers  of  Europe.  Their  action  depends  largely  on 
the  support  of  the  public.  "  Public  opinion"  there- 
fore, "  must  be  brought  to  bear  upon  this  case"  as  Mr. 
Gladstone  said  in  the  House  of  Commons  six  years 
ago.  Since  then  there  has  been  added  a  new  chap- 
ter of  horrors,  and  the  demand  for  decisive  action  in 
the  name  of  our  common  humanity  has  become 
more  urgent.  The  facts  furnished  by  this  book 
ought  to  arouse  such  public  opinion  as  will  justify 
and  compel  prompt  and  efficient  action  on  the  part 
of  the  Powers. 

The  United  States  need  not  depart  from  its  long- 
established  foreign  policy,  but  is  bound  to  protect 
its  own  honor  and  the  lives  and  property  of  its 
citizens. 

JosiAH  Strong. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

A  CHAPTER  OF  HORRORS 1 

CHAPTER    II. 

GENERAL  INFORMATION  ABOUT  EASTERN  TUR- 
KEY        48 

CHAPTER   III. 

THE    CHRONIC    CONDITION    OF    ARMENIA    AND 

KURDISTAN 54 

CHAPTER   IV. 

OTTOMAN  PROMISES  AND  THEIR   FULFILMENT.      70 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  OUTCOME  OF  THE  TREATY  OF  BERLIN   .    .      76 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  SULTAN  AND  THE  SUBLIME  PORTE   ....      87 

CHAPTER   VII. 

PREVIOUS  ACTS  OF  THE  TURKISH  TRAGEDY  .    .      95 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

ISLAM  AS  A  FACTOR  OF  THE  PROBLEM 110 

vii 


viii  Contents, 

CHAPTER  IX. 

PAGB 

GLADSTONE  ON  THE  ARMENIAN  MASSACRE  AND 

ON  TURKISH   MISRULE 121 

CHAPTER  X. 

WHO  ARE  THE  ARMENIANS  ? 131 

CHAPTER    XI. 

AMERICANS  IN  TURKEY,  THEIR  WORK  AND  IN- 
FLUENCE     147 

CHAPTER   XII. 

ARMENIAN  VILLAGE   LIFE 157 

APPENDIX   A. 

A  BIT  OF  AMERICAN  DIPLOMACY 169 

APPENDIX    B. 

ESTABLISHMENT    OF    UNITED    STATES    CONSU- 
LATES IN  EASTERN  TURKEY 175 

APPENDIX    C. 
DR.  CYRUS  HAMLIN'S  EXPLANATION. 179 

APPENDIX    D. 

THE  CENSORSHIP  OF  THE  PRESS -31 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE  APPALLING  CONDITION  OF  ARMENIA   ...    185 

CHAPTER   XIV. 

MR.  GLADSTONE  ON  ARMENIA .243 

CHAPTER   XV. 

THE  CRY  FROM  ARMENIA 256 


Contents.  ix 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

PAGB 

THE  SHAME  OF  CHRISTENDOM 285 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

AN  APPEAL  FOR  ARMENIA 309 

CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE  MASSACRE  AT  URFA 340 

CHAPTER   XIX. 

THE  LAST  THE  WORST 345 

CHAPTER   XX. 

RUSSIA  AND  TURKEY 351 

CHAPTER   XXI. 

THE  TYRANT  TURK  AND  THE  CRAVEN  STATES- 
MEN   356 

CHAPTER   XXII. 

INTERNATIONAL  POLITICS  AT  CONSTANTINOPLE  358 

CHAPTER   XXIII. 

THE  BLOT  ON  THE  CENTURY 365 

CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE  ARMENIANS— WHO  ARE  THEY  ? 371 

CHAPTER   XXV. 

THE  TURKISH  QUESTION  IN  GERMANY 380 

CHAPTER   XXVI. 

TURKISH  OPPRESSION 386 


X  Contents. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PAGB 

MISSIONARY  WORK  IN  TURKEY 396 

CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

TURKEY  AND  THE  TURKS 405 

CHAPTER   XXIX. 

THE  TURKISH  GOVERNMENT 413 

CHAPTER   XXX. 

RELIEF  FOR  SUFFERING  ARMENIA 418 

CHAPTER   XXXI. 

CAUSE  AND  EXTENT   OF   THE   RECENT  ATROCI- 
TIES   431 

CHAPTER   XXXII. 

TO  THE  RESCUE 440 

CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

WHAT  ONE  MAY  SEE  IN  ARMENIA 449 

CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

THE  TURKS  AND  THEIR  RELIGION 458 

CHAPTER   XXXV. 

HISTORY  OF  TURKEY  AND  THE  MOHAMMEDAN 

POWER 475 


PREFACE. 


HE  would  be  a  rash  man  who  should  claim  to 
have  mastered  the  Eastern  Question — a  ques- 
tion which  it  is  not  easy  even  to  define,  and 
of  which  the  future  of  Turkey  is  only  a  part.  To 
throw  light  on  some  phases  of  the  latter  problem  is 
the  writer's  object — and  this  by  way  of  information 
rather  than  argument.  What  he  has  learned  of  the 
subject  has  been  by  residence,  travel,  absorption, 
and  investigation  in  the  land  itself,  and  by  reading. 
The  very  short  time  allowed  in  the  preparation  of 
this  humble  contribution  to  the  subject  has  necessi- 
tated a  hasty  and  partial  treatment  at  the  expense 
of  literary  form.  Some  of  the  material  and  most  of 
the  illustrations  are  reproduced  from  articles  by  the 
author  in  the  American  Review  of  Revieivs,  by  the 
kind  permission  of  the  editor,  Dr.  Albert  Shaw. 
No  pains  have  been  spared  to  insure  accuracy. 
References  to  authorities  have  been  given  as  far  as 
possible,  but  in  regard  to  much  information  from 
most  reliable  sources  names  must  be  withheld. 

This  book,  with  all  its  harrowing  details  and  records 
of  murders  and  pillage,  was  prepared  to  prove  the 
awful  character  of  the  first  great  massacre  of  Arme- 
nians which  had  taken  place  in  Sassoun  some  months 


xii  Preface 

before,  but  of  which  no  authenticated  evidence  had 
up  till  that  time  been  made  pubHc.  It  was  beheved 
that,  if  the  people  of  Great  Britain  could  be  con- 
vinced of  the  condition  of  Armenia,  for  which  they 
were  largely  responsible,  such  a  public  opinion  would 
be  aroused  as  would  at  once  lead  to  vigorous  and 
determined  action  by  that  government.  It  was 
stated  in  the  Preface:  "If  such  action  is  not  taken, 
the  effect  of  this  book,  as  of  all  agitation  in  behalf 
of  the  victims  of  Turkey,  will  be  to  draw  the  fetters 
deeper."  The  expectation  that  England  would  do 
her  duty  has  proved  to  be  groundless,  but  the  Turk 
has  lived  up  to  his  reputation.  Irritated  by  Eng- 
land's threats,  but  emboldened  by  her  cowardly  and 
vacillating  course,  the  Sultan,  while  pretending  to 
reform  Armenia,  inaugurated  there  a  reign  of  terror, 
of  which  Sassoun  was  a  mere  local  incident. 

The  Sword  of  Mohammed  is  used  as  a  sub-title, 
because  there  is  still  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  that 
important  race ;  and  there  will  soon  be  one  in 
Europe  if  selfishness,  jealousy,  and  duplicity  con- 
tinue to  stifle  all  considerations  of  humanity,  national 
honor,  and — I  blush  to  add  it — of  Christianity. 

In  order  to  protect  "  British  interests,"  for  two- 
score  years,  not  to  say  longer,  has  "  Christian " 
England  stood  guard  at  the  Sublime  Porte,  warn- 
ing all  intruders  away.  With  her  hand  on  the  door 
of  the  Turk's  disorderly  house,  she  has  compla- 
cently informed  the  world  that  she  in  particular 
— as  well  as  the  other  Powers — has  secured  prom- 
ises, and  even  guaranties,  that  all  would  go  well. 
But  all  the  while,  Her  Majesty's  Ministers,  of  what- 


Preface  xili 

ever  party,  have  heard  the  bitter  and  despairing 
cry  of  the  poor  wretches  within,  and  have  done 
their  best  to  stifle  it  by  carefully  suppressing,  in 
their  archives,  the  consular  reports  Avhich  have 
kept  them  officially  informed  of  the  real  situation.' 
And  all  the  while,  England's  share  of  the  profits  of 
this  partnership  with  "  her  friend  and  ally,"  has  been 
steadily  dropping  into  her  overflowing  coffers.  Was 
Cyprus  nothing?  Is  Egypt  nothing?  Is  the  inter- 
est on  Turkish  bonds,  extracted  in  blood-drops  by  a 
pressure  th.it  England  helps  to  maintain,  nothing? 
England's  Christian  statesmen  who  so  jealously  pro- 
tect "British  interests,"  even  to  the  extent  of  con- 
niving, for  "  reasons  of  state,"  at  the  outrage  and 
murder  of  Armenia — whose  chief  guardianship  they 
insisted  on  assuming, — would  do  well  to  remember 
that  there  is  a  kingdom  of  God,  which  has  its  in- 
terests, and  which  for  state  reasons  of  its  own  has 
swept  away  mighty  empires  that  defied  its  laws. 

As  for  France,  whose  cant  at  least  is  not  religious, 
she  tattoos  her  fair  figure  with  "  Libcrt(*,  Egalitc', 
Fraterniid''  wherever  there  is  space  to  WTite  the 
words,  but  she  evidently  confines  her  motto  to  her- 
self.    It  is  reported  that,  at  the  close  of  the  Berlin 

'  "  I  am  at  a.  loss  to  know  why  the  reports  of  consuls  ceased  to  be 
furnished  in  or  ahout  the  year  iSSi.  \Vhy  are  not  consular  reports 
to  be  made,  and  being  made,  why  are  they  not  to  be  printed  ?  If  in 
this  respect  I  am  personally,  or  anyone  associated  wiih  me  is,  open 
to  censure,  let  the  facts  be  brought  out  ;  but  do  not  let  a  particular 
act  at  a  particular  time  be  confounded  with  the  adoption  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  eternal  silence  about  the  horrors  that  prevail  in  Armenia." — 
Speech  by  the  Rt.  Hon.  W.  E.  Gladstone,  in  House  of  Commons, 
May  28,  1889. 


xlv  Preface 

Congress  in  1878,  Prince  Bismarck  expressed  the 
sentiments  of  official  Germany,  by  saying  that  he 
"  would  not  give  one  Pomeranian  grenadier  for  the 
Balkan  Peninsula."  If  so,  she  would  probably  sac- 
rifice even  less  now  for  Armenia,  though  she  would 
object,  of  course,  to  a  division  of  Turkey  without 
receiving  some  compensation  herself.  Austria  would 
gladly  extend  her  protectorate  over  Macedonia, 
which  would  also  dispose  of  that  bone  of  contention 
between  Bulgaria  and  Greece.  Poor  Italy  finds  it 
hard  to  swallow  what  she  has  already  bitten  off  in 
Abyssinia,  and  would  be  glad  of  something  better. 

Holy  Russia  feels  so  sure  of  the  Armenian  apple, 
which  is  bound  to  fall  into  her  lap  when  it  is  ripe, 
that  she  does  n't  even  care  to  shake  the  branch,  lest 
it  might  alarm  her  rivals.  She  is  mistress  of  the 
situation,  and  time  is  in  her  favor. 

As  for  Turkey,  she  has  long  seen  the  sword  of 
Damocles  over  her  head,  and  will  bow  to  the  stroke 
of  Fate  whenever  it  falls.  She  hates  and  distrusts 
all  the  Powers,  but,  as  a  last  resort,  will  probably 
yield  to  Russia,  the  nearest  and  the  strongest,  in 
hope  of  escaping  the  rest.  Nobody  expects  or  is 
really  trying  to  secure  reforms  in  Turkey,  though 
promises  of  reform  will  still  be  demanded  of  the 
Sultan,  and  will  always  be  ready  on  demand. 

What  is  the  real  underlying  difficulty  in  Turkey  ? 
Is  it  a  conflict  of  race,  or  religion  ?  Primarily  it  is 
neither,  though  both  of  these  elements  seriously 
complicate  the  case  at  present.  In  one  word,  it  is 
misgovernmefit .  Do  not  be  deceived  by  this  rather 
mild  word,  and  dismiss  the  subject  with  the  reflec- 


TURKISH    LADY    OF    RANK 


ARMENIAN    BREAD-SELLER 


Preface  XV 

tion  that  "  there  is  misgovern ment  everywhere." 
Misgovernment,  as  it  exists  in  Turkey,  is  a  system 
breeding  corruption  and  death.  It  is  a  disease, 
hereditary,  chronic,  penetrating  the  whole  body 
politic  and  fastened  on  its  very  vitals.  No  creed  is 
exempt ;  every  race  is  attacked  by  it. 

I  have  seen  the  crushing  and — what  is  worse — 
demoralizing  conditions  from  which  all  the  races  in 
Turkey  suffer  under  Moslem  misrule.  I  know  how 
rapidly  these  fine  races  would  advance  along  every 
line,  were  these  conditions  changed.  I  know  the 
grand  possibilities  of  the  Armenians  as  a  people, 
physically,  intellectually,  and  morally.  The  only 
wonder  is  that  a  people  of  so  great  ability,  energy, 
and  spirit  have  so  long  submitted.  But  when  one 
sees,  as  I  have  been  compelled  to,  during  years  of 
residence  both  in  Constantinople  and  the  interior, 
how  the  fetters  have  been  forged  on  every  limb,  and 
how  the  movement  of  a  finger  even  brings  down 
immediate  and  terrible  vengeance,  the  wonder  arises 
why  these  wretches  are  so  foolhardy  as  to  undertake 
revolution.  The  fact  is  they  arc  not  engaged  in  any 
such  enterprise.  Individual  agitators  there  are,  but 
even  their  object  is  only  to  force  the  civilized  world 
to  give  attention  to  the  despairing  cry  of  their  race, 
which  even  God  does  not  seem,  to  them,  to  hear. 

If  the  Armenians  are  to  be  left  as  they  are,  it  is  a 
pity  that  Europe  ever  mentioned  them  in  the  Treaty 
of  Berlin  or  subsequently ;  and  to  intrust  reforms  in 
their  behalf  to  those  who  have  devoted  three  months' 
time  to  killing  and  robbing  them  is  simply  to  aban- 
don the  Armenians  to  destruction  and  to  put  the 


xvi  Preface 

seal  of  Europe  to  the  bloody  work.  The  only  way 
to  reform  Turkey,  as  history  has  so  often  shown,  is 
by  forcible  foreign  intervention — not  the  threat  of 
it,  but  the  intervention  itself. 

The  position  and  power  of  Russia  give  her  a 
unique  call  to  the  work.  Should  she  enter  on  it  at 
once  the  whole  civilized  world  would  approve  her 
course.  Russia  should  have  as  free  a  hand  in  Ar- 
menia as  England  has  insisted  on  having  in  Egypt. 
By  frankly  admitting  this,  England  would  gain  in  the 
respect  and  sympathy  of  the  world  and  strengthen 
her  own  position. 

During  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Gladstone  in  his 
home  at  Easter,  1895,  I  asked  him  if  he  shared  the 
horror  expressed  by  some,  of  opening  the  Eastern 
Question.  Quick  as  a  flash  he  replied,  "  The  only 
way  to  close  it  is  to  open  it."  If  in  this  fair,  honest, 
and  determined  spirit  the  statesmen  of  Europe 
should  come  together,  it  would  not  take  long  to  dis- 
pose of  the  so-called  "  Sick  Man."  The  fact  is  he  is 
already  dead,  and  the  only  way  to  dispose  of  him  is  by 
burying  him  out  of  sight.  He  is  too  far  decomposed 
to  hold  together  and  must,  therefore,  be  buried  piece- 
meal. No  "  joint  action  "  will  succeed.  Each  of  the 
European  undertakers  should  dispose  of  a  part,  be 
paid  proportionately  out  of  the  estate,  and  adminis- 
ter the  remainder  as  permanent  guardians  in  the 
interests  of  the  '*  Sick  Man's  "  various  children,  thus 
happily  orphaned. 

I  preach  no  crusade  ;  none  is  needed.  But  it  is 
high  time  for  the  conscience  of  the  civilized  world 
to  assert  itself — not   simply  the  "  non-Conformist 


Preface  xvu 

conscience,"  but  the  Established,  the  Orthodox,  the 
Catholic,  the  Agnostic,  and  the  Infidel  conscience, 
in  fact  the  human  conscience — against  this  crime 
upon  humanity.  If  this  conscience  is  once  aroused, 
I  care  not  what  parties  are  in  power,  or  how  the 
game  stands  on  the  diplomatic  chessboard,  the  rule 
of  the  Turk  will  be  ended,  and  one  more  blot  will  be 
wiped  out  from  the  annals  of  the  world. 

The  policy  of  the  United  States  Government  in 
this  world  crisis  has  been  one  of  impotence  as  far  as 
the  cause  of  humanity  is  concerned,  contemptible 
from  the  standpoint  of  national  honor,  and  suicidal 
as  regards  American  interests. 

While  not  lifting  so  much  as  a  finger  to  shield  tens 
of  thousands  of  helpless  women  and  children  from 
murder  and  outrage,  President  Cleveland,  by  his 
gallant  thundering  about  a  few  miles  of  swamps  in 
Venezuela,  at  once  threw  into  hopeless  confusion  the 
calculations  of  European  statesmen  in  regard  to  the 
Armenians,  and  removed  11  pressure  in  their  be- 
half. Meanwhile,  thirteen  respected  and  law-abiding 
United  States  citizens  were  actually  bombarded  by 
the  Sultan's  troops,  and  had  their  houses  plundered 
and  burned.  Though  four  months  have  passed,  no 
indemnity  has  been  secured,  and  it  is  not  probable 
that  any  official  will  be  punished  for  this  insult  to 
America. 

Emboldened  by  such  timid  and  tardy  action  by 
this  country,  the  Porte  has  now  assumed  the  aggres- 
sive and  audaciously  accuses  the  American  resi- 
dents of  sedition  and  murder.    The  object  of  this 


xviii  Preface 

charge  is  simply  to  secure  their  expulsion  from  the 
country.  . 

In  this  policy  of  getting  rid  of  the  Americans,  the 
Turks  are  ably  seconded  by  the  Russian  Ambassa- 
dor and  by  the  American  Minister  at  Constantinople, 
though  from  different  motives.  Turkey  seeks  the 
expulsion  of  the  Americans  because  she  knows  that, 
as  spiritual  and  educational  leaders,  they  are  a  mighty 
influence  in  the  development  of  her  Christian  sub- 
jects whom  she  wishes  to  retain  as  helpless  serfs. 
Russia  expects  soon  to  inherit  the  land  and  would 
like  to  have  it  cleared  of  what  she  considers  religious 
weeds  and  political  brambles.  The  United  States 
Minister  professes  to  be  haunted  by  the  future 
ghosts  of  American  citizens,  whom,  for  the  very  pur- 
pose of  terrifying  him,  the  Turks  threaten  to  murder. 
These  citizens,  both  men  and  women,  have  bravely 
and  cheerfully  stood  at  their  posts  while  the  storm 
of  death  has  raged  around  them  ;  and  now  that  it  is 
passed,  it  is  ridiculous  to  suppose  that  Turkey  can- 
not continue  to  protect  them.  Just  as  soon,  how- 
ever, as  the  Sultan  is  convinced  that  it  would  h^safe 
to  have  them  massacred  under  the  cloak  of  "  a 
fanatical  mob  "  that  event  is  likely  to  occur. 

The  jeopardy  to  American  life  and  interests  arises 
from  the  undignified  and  half-hearted  way  in  which 
they  are  being  "  defended."  A  reversal  of  this  policy 
would  safeguard  not  simply  the  persons  and  property 
of  American  citizens,  but,  what  is  more,  our  national 
honor.  It  would,  at  the  same  time,  indirectly, 
greatly  advance  the  cause  of  humanity  and  civiliza- 
tion in  that  unfortunate  land. 


CHAPTER  I. 

A  CHAPTER  OF  HORRORS. 

CERTIFIED   EVIDENCE   OF  THE   MASSACRE  Ilf 
SASSOUN. 

WE,  the  undersigned,  by  examination  and  com- 
parison, have  satisfied  ourselves  that  the 
following  statements  are  verbatim  reports, 
written  under  the  dates  which  they  bear,  by  American 
citizens  who  have  spent  from  six  to  thirty  years  in 
Eastern  Turkey.  We  have  examined  also  the  fact 
that  they  are  written  from  six  different  cities  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  miles  apart,  but  form- 
ing a  circle  about  the  centre  in  which  the  massacres 
occurred.  For  the  personal  safety  of  the  writers  the 
names  of  the  places  cannot  now  be  made  public. 
They  are  independent  reports  from  a  country  where 
refugees  and  returned  soldiers  of  the  Sultan  speak  of 
what  they  know.  We  have  the  utmost  confidence 
in  these  statements  and  regard  them  worthy  the 
belief  of  all  men. 

In  the  name  of  a  suffering  humanity  we  urge  the 
careful  perusal  of  these  statements,  and  recommend 
that  all  'readers  take  measures  to  make  the  indig- 
nation of  an  outraged  Christian  world  effectually 
felt.  We  deprecate  revolution  among  these  helpless 
Turkish  subjects,  but  bespeak  cordial  co-operation 
in  bringing  to  bear  upon  Turkey  the  force  of  the 
righteous  condemnation  of  our  seventy  millions  of 
people. 


,^%^^^^^^ 


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^. 


•  </t^4^    -^^ 


tyC^-^  Sf-  a!^io^ju<.t^err^ 


FREDERIC  T.  GREENHALGE 

Governor  of  Massachusetts. 

FRANCES  E.  WILLARD 

President  National  \V.  C.  T.  U. 

WM.  LLOYD   GARRISON  Jr. 

SAMUEL  J.  BARROWS 

Editor  Christian  Register, 

GEO.  C.  LORIMER 

Pastor  Tremont  Temple,  Boston. 

WILLIAM  E.  BARTON 

Pastor  Shawmut  Church,  Boston. 

H.  M.  JEWETT 

Ex-U.  S.  Consul,  Sivas,  Turkey.' 

MARY  A.  LIVERMORE 
Author  and  Lecturer. 

ALPHEUS  H.  HARDY 

FRANCIS  E.  CLARK 

Pres.  United  Society  Christian  Endeavor. 

'  Brother  and  predecessor  of  the  present  Consul  Jewett,  at  Sivas. 
3 


c^^.^^       ^  c/yL^^ 


cJ^^a^J,^^^^ 


EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE 

Pastor  New  South  Congregational  Church,  Boston. 

JULIA  WARD    HOWE 
Author  and  Lecturer. 

FRANCIS  A.  WALKER 

Pres.  Mass.  Instit.  of  Technology. 

A.  E.  PILLSBURY 

Ex- Attorney-General  of  Massachusetts. 

ISABEL  SOMERSET 
Lady  Henry  Somerset. 

CYRUS  HAMLIN 

Founder  of  Robert  College. 

1.  J.  LANSING 

Pastor  Park  Street  Church,  Boston. 

JOSEPH  COOK 

Author  and  Lecturer. 

WM.  E.  RUSSELL 

Ex-Governor  of  Massichusetts. 

JONATHAN  A.  LANE 

Pres.  Boston  Merchants'  Association. 
5 


EXPLANATORY  NOTE  BY  THE  AUTHOR- 


THESE  letters  are  written  by  men  who  can  have 
no  possible  motive  for  misrepresenting  the 
facts  in  the  case,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
each  writer  subjected  himself  to  personal  danger  by 
putting  such  statements  upon  paper  and  sending 
them  through  the  mails.  Several  of  the  documents 
have  gotten  through  Turkey  by  circuitous  routes,  in 
some  instances  having  been  sent  by  special  messenger 
to  Persia,  and  so  on  to  this  country.  Others  were 
never  risked  in  the  Turkish  mails,  but  have  come 
through  the  British  post-ofifice  at  Constantinople. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  no  writer  was  an 
eye-witness  of  the  actual  massacre  ;  nor  could  he 
have  been,  inasmuch  as  the  whole  region  was  sur^ 
rounded  by  a  military  cordon  during  the  massacre 
and  for  months  after.  The  letters  are  largely  based 
on  the  testimony  of  refugees  from  that  region,  or  of 
Kurds  and  soldiers  who  participated  in  the  butchery, 
and  who  had  no  hesitation  in  speaking  about  the 
affair  in  public  or  private  until  long  after,  when  the 
prospect  of  a  European  investigation  sealed  their 
lips.  Much  of  the  evidence  is,  therefore,  essentially 
first  hand,  having  been  obtained  from  eye-witnesses, 

6 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  7 

by  parties  in  the  vicinity  at  the  time,  who  are  im- 
partial, thoroughly  experienced  in  sifting  Oriental 
testimony,  familiar  with  the  Turkish  and  Armenian 
languages,  and  of  the  highest  veracity.  No  one  letter 
would  have  much  force  if  taken  alone,  for  it  might 
be  a  large  report  of  a  small  matter  ;  but  these  eleven 
letters  are  written  independently  of  one  another,  at 
different  times,  and  from  seven  different  cities  widely 
apart,  five  of  them  forming  a  circle  around  the  scene 
of  destruction.  The  evidence  is  cumulative  and 
overwhelming. 

There  is  absolute  unanimity  to  this  extent :  that 
a  gigantic  and  indescribably  horrible  massacre  of 
Armenian  men,  women,  and  children  did  actually 
take  place  in  the  Sassoun  and  neighboring  regions 
about  Sept.  i,  1894,  and  that,  too,  at  the  hands  of 
Kurdish  troops  armed  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  as 
well  as  of  regular  soldiers  sent  under  orders  from  the 
same  source.  What  those  orders  were  will  probably 
never  transpire.  That  they  were  executed  under  the 
personal  direction  of  high  Turkish  military  officers  is 
clear.  There  can  also  be  no  doubt — for  the  official 
notice  from  the  palace  was  printed  in  the  Constan- 
tinople papers  in  November  last — that  Zekki  Pasha, 
Commander  of  the  Fourth  Army  Corps,  who  led  the 
regular  troops  in  the  work  of  extermination,  has 
since  been  specially  honored  by  a  decoration  from 
the  Sultan,  who  was  also  pleased  to  send  silk  banners 
to  the  four  leading  Kurdish  chiefs,  by  a  special  mes- 
senger. 

The  latest,  most  accurate,  and  comprehensive  doc- 
ument  in   this   correspondence   is  No.  6. 


S  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

Vice-Consul  Shipley,  representing  Great  Britain  in 
the  inquiry  held  at  Moosh  from  January  24  to  July 
21,  1895,  substantiates  the  evidence  published  in  this 
chapter  a  year  ago : 

"  We  {Messrs.  Vilbert,  Shipley,  and  Prjevalsky,  the 
representatives  of  France,  England,  and  Russia\  have, 
in  our  report,  given  it  as  our  conviction,  arrived  at 
from  the  evidence  brought  before  us,  that  the  Ar- 
menians were  massacred  without  distinction  of  age  or 
sex ;  and,  indeed,  for  a  period  of  some  three  weeks, 
viz.,  from  the  12th  of  Aug.  to  the  ph  of  Sept. 
{O.S.),  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  the  Armenians 
were  absolutely  hunted  like  wild  beasts,  being  killed 
wherever  they  were  met,  and  if  the  slaughter  was  not 
greater,  it  was,  I  believe,  solely  owing  to  the  vastncss 
of  the  mountain  ranges  of  that  district,  which  enabled 
the  people  to  scatter  and  so  facilitated  their  escape. 
In  fact,  and  speaking  with  a  full  sense  of  responsi- 
bility, I  am  compelled  to  say  that  the  conviction  has 
forced  itself  upon  me,  that  it  was  not  so  much  the 
capture  of  the  agitator  Mourad,  or  the  suppressioji  of 
a  pseudo  revolt,  which  was  desired  by  the  Turkish 
authorities,  as  the  extermination,  pure  and  simple,  of 
the  Ghelieguzan  and  Talori  districts''  * 

British  Vice-Consul  Hampson,  who  made  a  tour  of 
the  whole  region  in  August,  1895,  adds  : 

"  That  large  numbers  perished  seems  certain,  the 
whole  region  being  absolutely  surrounded  by  Kurds  and 
soldiers  under  the  Mutessarif  of  Guendj,  and  Major 
Sali  Effendi,  now  in  command.  Nobody  and  nothing 
belonging  to  the  Armenians  was  purposely  spared.''  * 

*  Blue  Book,  Turkey,  1895,  No.  i,  Part  I.,  p.  206.    *  Ibid. ,  p.  200. 


MAP  or 
rU  RKEY  •"  ASIA 

e  (haded  section  Is  commonly  called 

ARMENIA 

Rail»oao  Complstcp 

*•""""•■ "         •  i«  PKoenue 

■■■   'SecNt    or    Ma**aciii 

ea*u<ii  Hii.c*  Mifoiit  Di»Rtt 
•—LJ 5 -      ^ r 

TMivcr  MILES"  OOT  AvtRACt  Haun  or  TR«vti. 


LoN«.     E.     fROKI     CRCtNV 


THE  EVIDENCE. 


No.  I. 

[The  reader  should  take  notice  that  this  first  letter 
was  written  over  four  months  before  the  massacre 
actually  occurred.] 

D  .  .  .,  April  3,  1894. 
It  does  seem  in  this  region  as  if  the  government 
were  bent  on  reducing  all  those  who  survive  the 
process  to  a  grovelling  poverty,  when  they  can  think 
of  nothing  more  than  getting  their  daily  bread. 
There  is  good  reason  for  thinking  that  unless  so- 
called  Christian  nations  extend  a  helping  hand,  they 
[the  Armenians]  will  become  wellnigh  extinct.  Of 
course  I  do  not  sympathize  in  any  way  with  the  ex- 
tremists in  other  lands  who  are  stirring  things  up 
here.  Nor  do  I  agree  with  those  papers  that  decry 
this  movement  as  very  foolish  because  there  is  no 
hope  for  success.  If  I  rightly  interpret  the  move- 
ment in  this  region,  the  thought  is  not  revolution  at 
all,  but  a  desperate  effort  to  call  the  attention  of 
Europe  to  the  wrongs  they  are  suffering  and  will 
ever  continue  to  suffer  under  this  government.  They 
feel  that  they  will  never  succeed  in  attracting  that 

9 


lO 


Tlie  Crisis  in  Turkey. 


attention  unless  they  show  that  they  are  desperate 
enough  to  sacrifice  their  lives.  And  there  is  no  com-, 
puting  the  lives  that  are  goiiig,  not  in  open  massacre  as 
in  Bulgaria — the  government  knows  better  than  that. — 
but  in  secret^  silent,  secluded  ways.  The  sooner  it  is 
known,  the  better.  There  never  will  be  peaceful^ 
prosperous  conditions  here  until  others  take  hold 
with  a  strong  hand. 


VICTIMS  OF  TURKISH  TAXATION  ABANDONING  THEIK 
VILLAGE  HOMES. 

No.  2. 
[This  is  the  first  report  of  the  massacre.] 

D     .     .     .,     Sept.  26,  1894. 

Troops  have  been   massed   in  the  region   of  the 

large  plain  near  us.    Sickness  broke  out  among  them, 

which  took  off  two  or  three  victims  every  few  days. 

It  was  a  good  excuse  for  establishing  the  quarantine 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors,  ii 

around,  with  its  income  from  bribes,  charges,  and 
the  inevitable  rise  in  the  price  of  the  already  dear 
grain.  I  suspect  that  one  reason  for  placing  quaran- 
tine was  to  hinder  the  information  as  to  what  all 
those  troops  were  about  in  that  region.  There 
seems  little  doubt  that  there  has  been  repeated  in 
the  region  back  of  Moosh  what  took  place  in  1876 
in  Bulgaria.  The  sickening  details  are  beginning  to 
come  in.  As  in  that  case,  it  has  been  the  innocent 
who  have  been  the  greatest  sufferers.  Forty-eight 
villages  are  said  to  have  been  wholly  blotted  out. 


No.  3. 

[Efforts  to  conceal  the  truth  as  soon  as  Vice-Con- 
sul Hallward  arrived  on  the  scene,  and  to  ward  off 
investigation.] 

D  .  .  .,  Oct.  3,  1894. 
As  the  time  goes  on  the  extent  of  the  slaughter 
seems  to  be  confirmed  as  greater  than  was  first  sup- 
posed. Six  thousand  is  a  low  figure — it  is  probably 
nearer  ten.  Mr.  Hallward,  the  new  [English]  Consul 
at  Van,  has  gone  directly  there,  and  it  is  said  that 
the  other  consuls  from  Erzroom  have  also  been  sent 
to  investigate.  The  government  tried  to  get  the 
people  here  to  sign  an  address  to  the  Sovereign,  ex- 
pressing satisfaction  with  his  rule,  disclaiming  sym- 
pathy with  the  Armenians  who  have  "  stirred  matters 
up,"  stating  that  the  thousands  slain  in  Talvoreeg 
met  their  just  deserts,  and  that  the  four  outsiders 
captured  should  be  summarily  punished,  expressing 


12  Hie  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

regret  that  it  has  been  thought  best  to  send  consuls 
to  investigate,  and  stating  that  there  was  no  need  for 
their  coming.  From  this  document  we  at  least  get 
some  facts  that  before  were  suppositions.  It  con- 
sisted of  about  two  thousand  words,  and  it  was  ex- 
pected that  it  would  be  sent  by  telegraph  with  at 
least  a  thousand  signatures.  The  Armenians  here 
have  not  yet  signed  it,  though  in  four  districts  simi- 
lar papers  have  been  secured  properly  sealed.  The 
effect  of  sncJi  papers  on  foreigners  will  be  much  modi- 
fied wlien  they  know  the  means  used  to  procure  them. 
Sword,  famine,  pestilence,  all  at  once — pity  this 
poor  country ! 


No.  4. 

[The  following  is  from  a  different  source.] 

A  .  .  .,  Oct.  31,  T894. 
We  have  word  from  Bitlis  that  the  destruction  of 
life  in  Sassoun,  south  of  Moosh,  was  even  greater 
than  was  supposed.  The  brief  note  which  has 
reached  us  says :  "  Twenty-seven  villages  annihi- 
lated in  Sassoun.  Six  thousand  men,  women,  and 
children  massacred  by  troops  and  Kourds.  This 
awful  story  is  just  beginning  to  be  known  here, 
though  the  massacre  took  place  early  in  September. 
The  Turks  have  used  infinite  pains  to  prevent  news 
leaking  out,  even  going  to  the  length  of  sending 
back  from  Trebizond  many  hundreds  from  the  Moosh 
region  who  had  come  this  way  on  business."  This 
massacre  was  ordered  from  Constantinople  in  the 
sense  that  some  Kourds  having  robbed  Armenian 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  13 

villages  of  flocks,  the  Armenians  pursued  and  tried 
to  recover  their  property,  and  a  fight  ensued  in 
which  a  dozen  Kourds  were  killed.  The  slain  were 
"  semi-official  robbers,"  i,  e.,  enrolled  as  troops  and 
armed  as  such,  but  not  under  control.  The  authori- 
ties then  telegraphed  to  Constantinople  that  Arme- 
nians had  "  killed  some  of  the  Sultan's  troops."  The 
Sultan  at  once  ordered  infantry  and  cavalry  to  put 
down  the  Armenian  rebellion,  and  they  did  it ;  only, 
not  finding  any  rebellion,  they  cleared  the  country 
so  that  none  should  occur  in  the  future. 


No.  5. 
[This  from  a  third  place.] 

B     .     .     .,     Nov.  16,  1894. 

Last  year  the  Talvoreeg  Armenians  successfully 
resisted  the  attacks  of  the  neighboring  Kourds.  The 
country  became  very  unsettled.  This  year  the  gov- 
ernment interfered  and  sent  detachments  of  regular 
soldiers  to  put  down  the  Armenians.  These  were 
assisted  by  the  Kourdish  Hamedie'lis  [organized 
troops].  The  Armenians  were  attacked  in  their 
mountain  fastnesses  and  were  finally  reduced  by  the 
failure  of  supplies,  both  of  food  and  ammunition. 
About  a  score  of  villages  were  wiped  out  of  existence 
— people  slaughtered  and  houses  burned. 

A  number  of  able-bodied  young  Armenians  were 
captured,  bound,  covered  with  brushwood  and 
burned  alive.  A  number  of  Armenians,  variously 
estimated,   but   less   than    a   hundred,    surrendered 


14  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

themselves  and  pled  for  mercy.  Many  of  them  were 
shot  down  on  the  spot  and  the  remainder  were  dis- 
patched with  sword  and  bayonet. 

A  lot  of  women,  variously  estimated  from  60  to 
160  in  number,  were  shut  up  in  a  church,  and  the 
soldiers  were  "  let  loose  "  among  them.  Many  of 
them  were  outraged  to  death  and  the  remainder  dis- 
patched with  sword  and  bayonet,  A  lot  of  young 
women  were  collected  as  spoils  of  war.  Two  stories 
are  told.  i.  That  they  were  carried  off  to  the  harems 
of  their  Moslem  captors.  2,  That  they  were  offered 
Islam  and  the  harems  of  their  Moslem  captors, — re- 
fusing, they  were  slaughtered.  Children  were  placed 
in  a  row,  one  behind  another,  and  a  bullet  fired  down 
the  line,  apparently  to  see  how  many  could  be  dis- 
patched with  one  bullet.  Infants  and  small  children 
were  piled  one  on  the  other  and  their  heads  struck 
off.  Houses  were  surrounded  by  soldiers,  set  on  fire, 
and  the  inmates  forced  back  into  the  flames  at  the 
point  of  the  bayonet  as  they  tried  to  escape. 

But  this  is  enough  of  the  carnage  of  death.  Esti- 
mates vary  from  3000  to  8000  for  the  number  of 
persons  massacred.  These  are  sober  estimates.  Wild 
estimates  place  the  number  as  high  as  20,000  to 
25,000. 

This  all  took  place  during  the  latter  part  of  August 
and  [early  part  of]  September.  The  arrival  of  the 
commander-in-chief  of  the  Fourth  Army  Corps  put  a 
stop  to  the  carnage.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
massacres  were  perpetrated  by  regular  soldiers,  for 
the  most  part  under  command  of  oflBcers  of  high 
rank.    This  gives  this  affair  a  most  serious  aspect. 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors,  15 

A  Christian  does  not  enjoy  the  respect  accorded 
to  street  dogs.  If  this  massacre  passes  without  notice 
it  will  simply  become  the  declaration  of  the  doom  of 
the  Christians.  There  will  be  no  security  for  the  life, 
property,  or  honor  of  a  Christian.  A  week  ago  last 
Tuesday  evening  at  sundown  a  Turk  kidnapped  the 
wife  of  a  wealthy  Armenian  merchant  of  the  town 
of  Khanoos  Pert.  Next  morning  her  cries  were  over- 
heard by  searchers  and  she  was  rescued  from  a 
Turkish  house.     No  redress  is  possible. 

Wild  rumors  have  been  abroad  for  a  long  time,  but 
trustworthy  information  came  to  hand  slowly.  Every- 
thing has  been  done  to  hush  it  all  up.  Some  of  the 
minor  details  of  the  stories  I  have  told  above  may  not 
be  exact,  but  I  feel  quite  certain  they  are  in  the  main. 
However,  that  a  cruelly  barbarous  and  extensive 
massacre  of  Christians  by  regular  soldiers  assisted  by 
Kourdish  Hamediehs,  under  command  of  officers  of 
rank  and  responsibility,  has  occurred  cannot  be 
denied. 

What  now  will  the  Christian  world  do? 


No.  6. 


[This  is  the  most  complete  account,  compiled  on 
the  ground.  The  following  document  was  carefully 
prepared  in  common  by  parties,  the  signature  of 
any  one  of  whom  would  be  of  sufficient  guaranty 
to  give  great  weight.  One  of  the  party,  who  is 
largely  responsible  for  the  data  given,  is  a  man  of 
high  position  and  wide  influence.  The  material  was 
collected  with  the  greatest  difficulty  and  under  the 


1 6  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

constant  espionage  of  Turkish  officials.  Armenian 
Christians  who  were  known  to  appear  at  the  place 
where  the  writer  was  staying,  were  arrested  and  some 
are  yet  in  prison  if  they  have  not  met  a  worse  fate 
already.  The  documents  were  sent  by  secret,  special 
carriers  into  Persia  and  came  by  Persian  post  to  the 
United  States.  They  left  Turkey  about  the  last  of 
November,  1894.  This  document  alone  is  sufficient 
to  stir  the  indignation  of  a  Christian  world.] 

C     .     .     .,     Nov.,  1894, 

There  is  uneasiness  in  Bitlis  as  to  the  safety  of  that 
city.  Scrutiny  of  the  mails  by  the  Turkish  authori- 
ties continues,  and  some  letters  addressed  to  resi- 
dents and  officials  in  the  United  States  are  failing 
to  arrive. 

The  Hantedi^h  soldiers,  who  are  Kourds,  and  who 
have  been  enrolled  during  the  past  three  years,  are 
uniformed  to  some  extent,  but  left  in  their  homes. 
They  are  committing  all  kinds  of  depredations.  The 
government  continues  to  exact  taxes  in  the  plun- 
dered districts,  sends  zabtieJis,  or  Turkish  soldiers, 
to  abide  in  the  villages,  and  eat  the  people  out  of 
provisions  until  in  some  way  they  manage  to  secure 
the  money.  In  the  Bashkalla  region  many  of  the 
men  find,  on  returning,  that  the  government  has 
taken  possession  of  their  property  and  refuses  to 
restore  it  or  allow  them  to  remain  in  their  old  homes. 

The  authorities  have  taken  and  are  taking  every 
precaution  to  prevent  accounts  of  the  famous  mas- 
sacre of  Moosh  from  reaching  the  outside  world. 
The  English  consul,  Mr.  Hallward,  went  on  a  tour  in 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  1 7 

the  region  affected.  He  was  subjected  to  constant 
annoying  espionage,  and  was  absolutely  unable  to 
penetrate  into  the  devastated  region. 

To  what  extent  Armenian  agitation  has  provoked 
the  terrible  massacre  it  is  dilificult  to  determine.  For 
a  year  or  more  there  seems  to  have  been  an  Arme- 
nian from  Constantinople  staying  in  the  region  as  an 
agitator.  For  a  long  time  he  skilfully  evaded  his 
pursuers,  but  was  at  last  caught  and  taken  to  Bitlis. 
He  demanded  to  be  taken  to  Constantinople  and  to 
the  Sultan,  and,  it  is  said,  he  is  now  living  at  the 
capital,  receiving  a  large  salary  from  the  govern- 
ment.    Evidently  he  has  turned  state's  evidence. 

FACTS  REGARDING  A  MASSACRE  AT  SASSOUN,  NEAR 
MOOSH,   TURKEY. 

Late  in  May,  1893,  an  outside  agitator  named 
Damatian  was  captured  near  Moosh.  The  gov- 
ernment had  suspected  that  the  Talvoreeg  vil- 
lages were  harboring  such  agitators,  and  had 
sent  orders  to  certain  Kourdish  chiefs  to  attack  the 
district,  assuming  the  responsibility  for  all  they 
should  kill,  and  promising  the  Kourds  all  the  spoil. 

Not  long  after  Damatian  had  been  brought  to 
Bitlis,  the  first  week  in  June,  the  Bakranlee  Kourds 
began  to  gather  below  Talvoreeg.  As  the  villagers 
saw  the  Kourds  gathering  day  by  day,  to  the  num- 
ber of  several  thousands,  they  suspected  their  de- 
signs, and  began  to  make  preparations.  On  the 
eighth  day  the  battle  was  joined.  The  stronger 
position  of  the  villagers  enabled  them  to  do  con- 
siderable execution  with  little  loss  to   themselves. 


1 8  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

The  issue  of  the  contest  at  sunset  was  some  one 
hundred  Kourds  slain,  and  but  six  of  the  villagers, 
one  of  whom  was  a  woman  who  was  trying  to  rescue 
a  mule  from  the  Kourds.  The  villagers  had  suc- 
ceeded in  breaking  down  a  bridge  across  the  deep 
gorge  of  a  river  before  a  detachment  of  Kourds  from 
another  direction  could  join  in  the  attack  against 
them.  The  Kourds  thus  felt  themselves  worsted, 
and  could  not  be  induced  to  make  another  attack 
that  summer. 

At  this  juncture  the  Governor-general  set  out 
with  troops  and  two  field-pieces  for  Moosh,  and  in- 
fested the  region  near  Talvoreeg,  but  either  he  con- 
sidered his  forces  insufHcient,  or  he  had  orders  to 
keep  quiet,  for  he  made  no  attack,  but  merely  had 
the  troops  keep  siege.  Before  leaving,  he  succeeded, 
by  giving  hostages,  in  having  an  interview  with  some 
of  the  chief  men  in  Talvoreeg,  and  asked  them  why 
they  did  not  submit  to  the  government,  and  pay 
taxes.  They  replied  that  they  were  not  disloyal  to 
the  government,  but  that  they  could  not  pay  taxes 
twice,  to  the  Kourds  and  to  the  government.  If 
the  government  would  protect  them,  they  would 
pay  to  it.  Nothing  came  of  the  parley,  and  the 
siege  was  continued  till  snow  fell.  During  the  win- 
ter, while  blackmail  was  rife  in  the  vilayet,  several 
rich  men  of  Talvoreeg  were  invited  to  visit  the 
Governor-General,  but  did  not  see  best  to  accept. 

In  the  early  spring  the  Kourds  of  several  tribes 
were  ordered  to  attack  the  villages  of  Sassoun,  while 
troops  were  sent  on  from  Moosh  and  Bitlis,  the  latter 
taking  along  ammunition  and  stores,  and  ten  mule- 


20  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

loads  of  kerosene  (eighty  cans).  The  whole  district 
was  pretty  well  besieged  by  Kourds  and  troops. 
The  villages  thus  besieged  would  occasionally  make 
sorties  to  secure  food. 

The  Kourds  on  one  occasion  stole  several  oxen, 
and  their  owners  tracked  their  property  to  the 
Kourdish  tents,  and  found  that  one  ox  had  been 
butchered.  They  asked  for  the  others,  and  were 
refused,  whereupon  the  villagers  left,  and  later  re- 
turned with  some  companions.  A  scrimmage  ensued, 
in  which  two  or  three  were  killed  on  either  side. 
The  Kourds  at  once  took  their  dead  to  the  govern- 
ment at  Moosh,  and  reported  that  the  region  was 
filled  with  Armenian  and  foreign  soldiers.  The 
government  at  once  sent  in  all  directions  for  sol- 
diers, gathering  in  all  from  eight  to  ten  taboors 
(regiments).  Kourds  congregated  to  the  number  of 
about  twenty  thousand,  while  some  five  hundred 
Hamedi^h  horsemen  were  brought  to  Moosh. 

METHODS   OF  PROCEDURE  AND   INCIDENTS  OF  THE 
MASSACRE. 

At  first  the  Kourds  were  set  on,  and  the  troops 
kept  out  of  sight.  The  villagers,  put  to  the 
fight,  and  thinking  they  had  only  the  Kourds  to 
do  with,  repulsed  them  on  several  occasions.  The 
Kourds  were  unwilling  to  do  more  unless  the  troops 
assisted.  Some  of  the  troops  assumed  Kourdish 
dress,  and  helped  them  in  the  fight  with  more  suc- 
cess. Small  companies  of  troops  entered  several 
villages,  saying  they  had  come  to  protect  them  as 
loyal  subjects,  and  were  quartered  among  the  houses. 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  2 1 

In  the  night  they  arose  and  slew  the  sleeping  vil- 
lagers, man,  woman,  and  child. 

By  this  time  those  in  other  villages  were  beginning 
to  feel  that  extermination  was  the  object  of  the 
government,  and  desperately  determined  to  sell 
their  lives  as  dearly  as  possible.  And  then  began  a 
campaign  of  butchery  that  lasted  some  twenty-three 
days,  or,  roughly,  from  the  middle  of  August  to  the 
middle  of  September.  The  Ferik  Pasha  [Marshal 
Zekki  Pasha],  who  came  post-haste  from  Erzingan, 
read  the  Sultan's  firman  for  extermination,  and 
then,  hanging  the  document  on  his  breast,  exhorted 
the  soldiers  not  to  be  found  wanting  in  their  duty. 
On  the  last  day  of  August,  the  anniversary  of  the 
Sultan  s  accession,  the  soldiers  zuere  especially  urged  to 
distinguish  themselves,  and  they  made  it  the  day  of  the 
greatest  slaughter.  Another  marked  day  occurred  a 
few  days  earlier,  being  marked  by  the  occurrence  ot 
a  wonderful  meteor. 

No  distinctions  were  made  between  persons  or 
villages,  as  to  whether  they  were  loyal  and  had  paid 
their  taxes  or  not.  The  orders  were  to  make  a  clean 
sweep.  A  priest  and  some  leading  men  from  one 
village  went  out  to  meet  an  officer,  taking  in  their 
hands  their  tax  receipts,  declaring  their  loyalty,  and 
begging  for  mercy;  but  the  village  was  surrounded, 
and  all  human  beings  put  to  the  bayonet.  A  large 
and  strong  man,  the  chief  of  one  village,  was  cap- 
tured by  the  Kourds,  who  tied  him,  threw  him  on 
the  ground,  and,  squatting  around  him,  stabbed  him 
to  pieces. 

At  Galogozan  many  young  men  were  tied  hand 


22  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

and  foot,  laid  in  a  row,  covered  with  brushwood  and 
burned  alive.  Others  were  seized  and  hacked  to 
death  piecemeal.  At  another  village  a  priest  and 
several  leading  men  were  captured,  and  promised 
release  if  they  would  tell  where,  others  had  fled,  but, 
after  telling,  all  but  the  priest  were  killed.  A  chain 
was  put  around  the  priest's  neck,  and  pulled  from 
opposite  sides  till  he  was  several  times  choked  and 
revived,  after  which  several  bayonets  were  planted 
upright,  and  he  raised  in  the  air  and  let  fall  upon  them. 

The  men  of  one  village,  when  fleeing,  took  the 
women  and  children,  some  five  hundred  in  number, 
and  placed  them  in  a  sort  of  grotto  in  a  ravine. 
After  several  days  the  soldiers  found  them,  and 
butchered  those  who  had  not  died  of  hunger. 

Sixty  young  women  and  girls  were  selected  from 
one  village  and  placed  in  a  church,  when  the  soldiers 
were  ordered  to  do  with  them  as  they  liked,  after 
which  they  were  butchered. 

In  another  village  fifty  choice  women  were  set 
aside  and  urged  to  change  their  faith  and  become 
hanunis  in  Turkish  harems,  but  they  indignantly 
refused  to  deny  Christ,  preferring  the  fate  of  their 
fathers  and  husbands.  People  were  crowded  into 
houses  which  were  then  set  on  fire.  In  one  instance 
a  little  boy  ran  out  of  the  flames,  but  was  caught  on 
a  bayonet  and  thrown  back. 

Children  were  frequently  held  up  by  the  hair  and 
cut  in  two,  or  had  their  jaws  torn  apart.  Women 
with  child  were  ripped  open ;  older  children  were 
pulled  apart  by  their  legs.  A  handsome,  newly 
wedded  couple  fled  to  a  hilltop ;  soldiers  followed. 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  23 

and  told  them  they  were  pretty  and  would  be  spared 
if  they  would  accept  Islam,  but  the  thought  of  the 
horrible  death  they  knew  would  follow  did  not  pre- 
vent them  from  confessing  Christ. 

The  last  stand  took  place  on  Mount  Andoke 
[south  of  Moosh],  where  some  thousand  persons  had 
sought  refuge.  The  Kourds  were  sent  in  relays  to 
attack  them,  but  for  ten  or  fifteen  days  were  unable 
to  get  at  them.  The  soldiers  also  directed  the  fire 
of  their  mountain  guns  on  them,  doing  some  execu- 
tion. Finally,  after  the  besieged  had  been  without 
food  for  several  days,  and  their  ammunition  was  ex- 
hausted, the  troops  succeeded  in  reaching  the  sum- 
mit without  any  loss,  and  let  scarcely  a  man  escape. 

Now  all  turned  their  attention  to  those  who  had 
been  driven  into  the  Talvoreeg  district.  Three  or 
four  thousand  of  the  besieged  were  left  in  this  small 
plain.  When  they  saw  themselves  thickly  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  Turks  and  Kourds,  they 
raised  their  hands  to  heaven  with  an  agonizing  moan 
for  deliverance.  They  were  thinned  out  by  rifle 
shots,  and  the  remainder  were  slaughtered  with 
bayonets  and  swords,  till  a  veritable  river  of  blood 
flowed  from  the  heaps  of  the  slain. 

And  so  ended  the  massacre,  for  the  timely  arrival 
of  the  Mushire  [Commander-in-chief  of  the  Fourth 
Army  Corps  at  Erzingan]  saved  a  few  prisoners 
alive,  and  prevented  the  extermination  of  four  more 
villages  that  were  on  the  list  to  be  destroyed,  among 
which  was  the  Protestant  village  of  Havodorick. 
This  was  the  formidable  army  the  government  had 
massed  so  many  troops  and  Kourds  to  vanquish. 


"24  Th^  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

For  God's  sake  do  not  let  the  public  conscience  go 
to  sleep  again  over  this  reign  of  terror.  The  land  is 
almost  paralyzed  with  horror  and  terror  ! 


No.  7. 


[The  crisis  and  the  need  of  keeping  the  issue  clear. 
The  real  explanation  of  the  massacre.] 

A     .     .     .,  Jan.  7,  1895. 

The  importance  of  the  present  crisis  grows  upon 
me.  In  the  first  place  Turkey  is  preparing  for  a  ter- 
rible catastrophe  by  squeezing  Armenians,  and  arm- 
ing Moslem  civilians  in  Sivas,  Aleppo,  Castamouni, 
and  other  provinces ;  and  in  the  second  place  it  is 
putting  on  the  screws  tighter  everywhere  excepting 
in  the  three  eastern  provinces  where  the  Commission 
is  now  commencing  investigation.  In  Van  and  Bit- 
lis  the  process  of  arresting  and  intimidating  witnesses 
went  on  until  the  very  hour  of  the  departure  of  the 
Commission  of  Investigation.  Then  the  order  went 
out  to  stop,  and  those  provinces  are  enjoying  the 
first  semblance  of  quiet  that  they  have  known  for 
five  years. 

This  policy  of  continued  massacre  and  outrage  is 
favored  by  the  profound  ignorance  which  prevails 
everywhere  as  to  the  actual  state  of  things  in  Turkey. 
People  think  that  the  Sassoun  massacre  is  something 
exceptional,  and  that  until  that  is  proved  there  is  no 
evidence  of  a  need  of  European  interference  in  behalf 
of  Christians  in  Turkey.  What  ought  to  be  done  is 
to  fix  on  the  mind  of  the  public  the  fact  that  Turkey 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors. 


25 


has  taken  up  the  poHcy  of  crushing  the  Christians  all 
over  the  Empire,  and  has  been  at  it  for  several  years, 
so  that  even  if  the  massacre  had  not  taken  place,  the 
duty  of  Europe  to  prohibit  Turkey  from  acting  the 
part  of  Anti-Christ  was  still  self-evident. 


NAREG  ;  ANCIENT  CHURCH  AND  MODERN  HOVELS. 

No.  8. 

B     .     .     .,  Jan.  12,  1895. 

The  people  are  in  a  state  of  horror  because  of  the 

massacre.     The  Commission  has  been  expected  for 

some  time,  and  without  doubt  the  local  authorities 

have  used  every  means  to  cover  up  their  tracks  and 

terrorize  still  further  those  who  may  be  probable 

3 


26  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

witnesses.  Those  who  are  encouraged  to  testify  will 
be  again  at  the  mercy  of  the  Turks  after  the  Com- 
mission rises.  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that 
some  will  be  courageous  enough  to  testify,  but  it 
will  be  at  great  odds.  Almost  everything  is  against 
the  perfect  success  of  the  Commission's  work,  or 
rather  the  favorable  outcome  of  the  work  of  the 
European  delegates.  It  will  not  be  right  to  stake 
the  fate  of  Armenia  on  the  outcome  of  the  work  of 
this  Commission. 

Rather  it  should  be  remembered  that  Sassoun  is 
the  outcome  of  a  governmental  system.  There  have 
been  hundreds  of  Sassouns  all  over  the  country  all 
through  the  last  ten  years,  as  you  know.  The  laxity 
of  Europe  has  afforded  opportunity  for  the  merciless 
working  of  this  system  in  all  its  vigor.  It  is  born  of 
religious  and  race  hatred,  and  has  in  mind  the  crush- 
ing of  Christianity  and  Christians. 

It  is  not  the  Kourdish  robbers,  or  famine,  or  chol- 
era that  have  to  answer  for  the  present  state  of  the 
country.  It  is  rather  the  robbery,  and  famine,  and 
worse  than  cholera  entailed  on  the  country  by  the 
workings  of  this  system.  It  is  not  alone  the  blood 
of  five  thousand  men,  women,  children,  and  babies, 
that  rises  in  a  fearful  wail  to  heaven,  calling  for 
just  vengeance,  but  also  the  fearful  suffering,  the 
desolate  homes,  the  wanton  cruelty  of  tax  collectors 
and  petty  officials,  and  the  violated  honor  of  scores 
and  scores. 

The  Turk  is  on  trial.  Let  not  Sassoun  alone  go 
in  evidence,  but  remember  that  the  same  wail  rises 
from  all  over  the  country. 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors,  2  7 

No.  9. 
[From  a  graduate  of  an  American  school.] 

[Translated.] 

G     .     .     .,  Nov,  4,  1894. 

"  /  implore  that  you  will  remember  one  of  your 

former  pupils,  and  hear  my  cry.     Oh,  woe  is  me, 

eternal  pain  and  sorrow  to  my  young  heart  !     Evil 

disposed  and  lawless  men  have  robbed  me  of  the  bloom. 


ARMENIAN  GIRLS   OF  VAN. 

and  beauty  of  my  wifely  purity.     It  was  H Bey 

the  son  of  the  Kaimakam  (the  local  Turkish  Governor 
residing  in  the  village).  I  was  engaged  in  my  house- 
hold work.  I  stepped  outside  the  door,  when  I  suddenly 
found  7nyself  in  the  grasp  of  four  men.  They  smoth- 
ered Tny  cries  and  threatened  my  life,  and  by  force 
carried  me  off  to  a  strange  house.  Though  this  is 
written  with  ink,  believe  me,  it  is  written  in  blood  and 
tears'* 


28  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

THE    SEQUEL  TO   SASSOUN. 

The  Sassoun  massacre,  which  was  first  publicly 
proven  beyond  doubt  by  the  foregoing  evidence,  was 
simply  a  gigantic  murder  of  which  the  perpetrators 
were  the  Sultan's  regular  and  irregular  troops,  and 
of  which  the  victims  were  four  thousand  hardy, 
brave,  but  helpless  mountaineers,  the  flower  of  the 
Armenian  race.  The  massacre  took  place  early  in 
September,  1894.  Within  a  month,  the  British 
Government  was  in  possession  of  the  main  facts 
through  reports  of  its  own  consuls.  But  instead  of 
taking  prompt  action,  it  spent  several  months  more 
in  polite  correspondence  on  the  subject  with  the 
Powers  and  the  Porte.  After  giving  his  officials 
four  months  in  which  to  clear  up  the  evidences  of 
their  crime,  the  Sultan  sent  a  "  Commission  of  In- 
quiry "  to  investigate  at  Moosh.  This  Commission 
was  a  farce  from  beginning  to  end,  for  it  was  com- 
posed of  Turks,  and  the  Sultan  had  already  rewarded 
and  decorated  the  criminals.  England,  France,  and 
Russia,  whose  right  and  duty  it  was  to  have  insti- 
tuted an  investigation  of  their  own,  contented  them- 
selves with  the  "  concession  "  from  the  Sultan  that 
their  vice-consuls  should  be  allowed  to  attend  the, 
sittings  of  the  Commission  as  visitors,  but  without 
the  power  of  summoning  or  protecting  witnesses. 

It  is  clear  that  the  diplomats  did  not  take  the 
Commission  seriously,  for,  without  awaiting  its  report 
they  proceeded  to  prepare  a  "  Scheme  of  Reforms  " 
for  the  six  eastern  provinces — namely,  Erzerum,  Van, 
Bitlis,  Diarbekir,  Harpoot,  and  Sivas — and  presented 
it  to  the  Sultan  on  May  11,  1895. 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  29 

These  reforms  were  mild  and  in  the  line  of  what 
the  Turks  had  frequently  promised,  and  their  exe- 
cution was  entrusted  to  the  Sultan.  But  in  spite  of 
all  this  he  obstinately  refused  to  accept  them. 

Spring  and  summer  passed,  the  anniversary  of  the 
Sassoun  massacre  arrived.  No  redress  had  been 
secured,  nor  the  punishment  of  a  single  official,  nor 
the  adoption  of  a  single  reform.  Europe  seemed  to 
be  trying  to  hush  up  the  Armenian  question. 

The  Armenians  felt  that  this  would  mean  the 
sleep  of  death  to  their  race. 

They  had  been  growing  more  and  more  restive 
under  the  long  delay,  and  a  few  hot-heads  decided 
to  have  a  demonstration  in  Constantinople  in  hope 
of  hastening  matters.  They  made  no  secret  of  it, 
representing  that  they  were  simply  going  to  present 
a  petition  to  the  Grand  Vezier  in  an  orderly  manner, 
and  sent  word  to  him  beforehand  of  their  purpose. 
Such  methods  of  securing  attention  to  grievances  are 
common  in  Turkey.  But  the  authorities,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  took  the  wrong  line  of  action.  Instead  of 
letting  the  crowd  go  to  the  Porte  and  present  its 
petition,  as  usage  requires,  thus  passing  the  affair  off 
in  a  quiet  manner,  the  police  were  ordered  to  block 
the  way.  This  led  to  a  riot  on  September  30th, 
during  which  about  twenty  Armenians  were  badly 
hurt,  and  three  of  them  died,  as  well  as  three  of 
the  police. 

The  few  Armenians  who  had  made  a  show  of 
resistance  belonged  to  the  Hunchagist  or  "  agitat- 
ing "  society.  The  members  of  this  society  are  a 
mere  handful  comoared  with  the  mass  of  the  Ar- 


30  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

menian  population,  which  realizes  its  utter  helpless- 
ness and  has  no  thought  of  resistance.  No  one 
understands  this  better  than  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment ;  but  it  delights  to  find  an  occasional  trace 
of  disloyalty,  in  order  to  brand  the  whole  race  as 
seditious,  and  thus  justify  the  policy  of  cruelty,  im- 
poverishment, and  extermination  which  it  has  been 
deliberately  executing  in  Armenia  for  years,  and  is 
determined  to  continue. 

If  in  defending  their  right  of  petition  the  Ar- 
menians were  guilty,  their  guilt  ends  there,  for  they 
made  no  further  resistance.  But  great  numbers 
of  them  were  arrested  at  once,  and  several  hundred 
were  brutally  killed  in  Constantinople  during  the 
week  by  Mohammedan  civilians  and  Softas,  or 
religious  students. 

The  following  is  a  significant  extract  from  a 
letter : 

"Constantinople,  Oct.  5^  1895. 

"  The  slaughter  continued  through  Tuesday  and 
Wednesday  morning.  There  was  no  general  attack 
on  houses,  but  a  tendency  to  kill  every  Armenian 
seen  in  the  streets.  This  morning  the  Sultan  sent 
presents  to  the  Softas  engaged  in  the  work.  No 
Mohammedan  has  been  arrested  for  murder  of 
Armenians.  The  worst  feature  of  the  whole  affair 
has  been  the  brutal  murder  of  prisoners  at  the  Min- 
istry of  Police  by  the  officers  charged  with  their 
guardianship.  Several  eye-witnesses  describe  how 
men  were  beaten  to  death  by  the  police  in  the  Court 
of  the  Ministry.  The  clerk  of  a  foreign  consulate 
happened  to  be  there  on  Monday,  and  saw  eight 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors,  3 1 

Armenians  brought  in  from  the  street  and  instantly 
bayoneted." 

The  massacre  at  Trebizond,  October  8th,  was  the 
first  of  a  series,  and  in  many  respects  was  typical  of 
those  which  rapidly  followed  in  Erzerum,  Erzingan, 
Baiboort,  Sivas,  Marsovan,  Cesarea,  Harpoot,  Bitlis, 
Diarbekir,  Malatia,  Marash,  Aintab  and  other  places 
It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  Trebizond, 
being  a  seaport,  with  a  large  foreign  population  and 
European  consuls,  suffered  less  than  the  cities  of 
the  interior  where  there  were  no  such  restraining 
influences. 

The  following  description  of  the  massacre  at  Tre- 
bizond, is  that  of  an  American  eye-witness  and  was 
written  on  the  spot  at  the  time. 

"Trebizond,  Oct.  9,  1895. 

"  On  Saturday,  October  5th,  the  excitement  in 
town  (over  news  of  the  attacks  on  Armenians  in 
Constantinople)  was  very  intense.  The  Consuls  had 
a  consultation,  and  going  in  a  body  to  the  Governor, 
earnestly  pressed  him  to  arrest  those  who  were 
exciting  the  people  to  acts  of  outrage.  The  Gover- 
nor declined  to  do  so  but  promised  in  his  own  way 
to  do  '  the  right  thing '  ! 

"  Suddenly  like  a  clap  of  thunder  in  a  clear  sky, 
the  assault  began  at  about  1 1  A.M.  yesterday.  Un- 
suspecting people  walking  along  the  streets  and 
merchants  sitting  quietly  at  their  shop  doors  were 
shot  ruthlessly  down.  Some  were  slashed  with 
swords  until  life  was  extinct.  They  passed  through 
the  quarters  where  only  old  men,  women,  and  chil- 


32  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

dren  remained,  killing  the  men  and  large  boys,  gen- 
erally permitting  the  women  and  younger  children 
to  live.  For  five  hours  this  horrid  work  of  inhuman 
butchery  went  on.  Then  the  sound  of  musketry 
died  away  and  the  work  of  looting  began.  Every 
shop  of  an  Armenian  in  the  market  was  gutted. 
For  hours  bales  of  broadcloth,  cotton  goods,  and 
every  conceivable  kind  of  merchandise  passed  along 
without  molestation  to  the  houses  of  the  spoilers. 
The  intention  evidently  was  to  impoverish  and  as 
near  as  possible  to  blot  out  the  Armenians  of  this 
town.  So  far  as  appearances  went,  the  police  and 
soldiers  distinctly  aided  in  this  savage  work,  their 
only  care  being  to  see  that  the  right  ones — that  is, 
Armenians — were  killed." 

"  Trebizond,  Oct.  14,  1895, 
"  Many,  who  even  promised  to  accept  the  religion 
of  Islam,  were  still  most  cruelly  hacked  to  pieces. 

In  this  city  and  vicinity  the  killed  number  1,000, 
almost  exclusively  males.  When  you  consider  that 
the  adult  males  of  the  Armenian  community  did 
not  number  more  than  2,000,  the  frightful  mortality 
is  at  once  understood.  On  the  other  hand,  not  one 
of  the  rioters  has  been  arrested  ;  not  one  has  been 
disarmed.  Apparently  all  this  wholesale  murder  of 
peaceable  and  law-abiding  subjects  of  the  Sultan  is 
no  crime  worthy  of  notice.  The  Armenians  are 
now  so  prostrated  that  they  can  do  nothing.  Relief 
must  come  from  abroad." 

October  i6th  was  a  day  of  rejoicing  in  Constanti- 
nople, but   it  will  be  remembered  as  one   of  the 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors,  33 

blackest  days  in  Armenian  history.  On  that  day 
the  Sultan  professed  to  accept  the  scheme  of  re- 
forms which  for  more  than  five  months  the  Powers 
had  urged  upon  him  in  vain.  What  he  really  did, 
as  subsequent  events  demonstrate  beyond  a  doubt, 
was  to  sign  the  death-warrant  of  the  Armenians  who 
were  to  have  profited  by  the  reforms.  He  had  darkly 
hinted  that  this  would  follow  if  he  were  pushed  too 
hard,  but  no  one  believed  that  he  would  really 
prove  so  vindictive  or  so  foolish  as  to  carry  out  the 
threat.  The  Armenian  leaders  who  were  baffled  in 
trying  to  present  their  petition  on  September  30th, 
had  for  two  weeks  kept  up  a  silent  protest  by  com- 
pelling all  Armenians  to  close  their  shops  in  the 
bazaars.  But  the  granting  of  the  reforms,  which 
was  all  that  the  so-called  "  revolutionists "  de- 
manded, produced  at  once  an  enormous  sense  of 
relief,  and  the  streets  were  as  busy  as  ever. 

From  this  time  on  reform  by  massacre  was  th*- 
order  of  the  day.  The  Armenians  in  city  after  citj 
were  quickly  given  over  to  slaughter  and  spoliation 

The  following  letter,  written  from  Erzerum  within 
three  weeks  after  the  Sultan  accepted  the  reforms, 
shows  with  what  energy,  zeal,  and  good  faith  he 
carried  them  out.  It  should  be  remembered  that 
Shakir  Pasha,  the  Imperial  Reform  Commissioner, 
and  Raouf  Pasha,  the  best  Governor  in  all  the  East- 
ern provinces,  were  in  command  at  Erzerum  : 

"  Erzerum,  Nov,  5,  1895. 
"  The  wave  of  destruction  started  at  Constanti- 
nople and  has  so  far  swept  through  Trebizond,  Bai- 


34  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

boort,  Erzingan,  Erzerum,  Bitlis,  Harpoot,  and  the 
intervening  districts.  The  entire  Erzerum  province 
has  been  deluged  in  Christian  blood  and  the  bulk  of 
Christian  property  plundered  or  destroyed. 

"The  scheme  of  reform  has  now  become  an  impossi- 
bility. The  only  hope  of  this  land  is  foreign  occu- 
pation. Appeal  for  relief  funds.  The  remnant  of 
the  people  are  left  in  utter  destitution.  They  cannot 
get  out  of  the  country.  Two  cents  a  day  will  give 
a  man  about  a  pound  and  a  half  of  bread.  For  the 
love  of  God  do  all  you  can  to  get  relief  for  these 
wretched  people ! 

"  The  scene  in  the  cemetery  was  awful.  The  re- 
mains are  simply  the  wrecks  of  human  bodies.  Awful 
cruelty  was  practised.  The  majority  have  bullet 
wounds  in  addition  to  bayonet,  sword,  and  dagger 
cuts.  Some  were  skinned,  some  burned  with  kerosene. 
A  great  many  women  are  missing.  Very  many  of 
the  dead  have  been  disposed  of  by  the  Turks  them- 
selves. There  must  have  been  a  thousand  killed. 
About  seven  hundred  houses  and  fifteen  hundred 
shops  were  plundered  of  all  that  was  in  them.  The 
wanton  destruction  of  property  that  could  not  be 
removed  was  very  marked.  Boxes  and  other  furni- 
ture were  split  to  pieces.  Provisions  that  could  not 
be  carried  away  were  destroyed. 

"The  Armenians  had  shown  a  great  amount  of 
patience.  I  am  perfectly  sure  they  had  no  thought 
of  attack,  much  less  any  preparation  for  it.  The 
attack  was  made  by  Moslems  after  leaving  the 
mosques,  after  the  noon  hour  of  prayer,  and  it  was 
simultaneous  all  over  the  city.      The  Armenians 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors,  35 

were  in  their  places  of  business,  which  were  simply 
death-traps.  For  instance,  the  silversmiths'  row  was 
cut  off  at  either  end  and  not  a  man  escaped,  and  the 
shops  were  not  only  plundered  but  wrecked.  In 
fact,  the  most  violent  Armenians,  i.  e.,  the  Huncha- 
gijiSy  had  determined  to  keep  perfectly  quiet  till  the 
scheme  of  reform  was  well  tried.  The  soldiers  de- 
clare that  they  had  been  instructed  beforehand.  The 
Turks  were  expecting  it  for  a  long  time,  and  evi- 
dently the  orders  were  given  from  Constantinople. 
The  massacre  was  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
the  military.     It  began  and  ended  with  the  bugle. 

The  following  has  been  received  from  perfectly  trust- 
worthy sources  in  regard  to  the  massacre  at  Sivas : 

"  The  outbreak  began  on  November  12th  and  was 

*  permitted  '  to  continue  for  seven  days  ;  during  this 

*  bloody  week '  about  twelve  hundred  Armenians  and 
ten  Turks  were  killed.  Suddenly  at  noon,  as  if  at  a 
given  signal,  the  Turkish  laborers  seized  their  tools, 
clubs,  or  whatever  was  at  hand ;  soldiers,  Circassians, 
and  police  their  arms, — all  under  command  of  officers. 
— and  rushed  to  the  market  to  begin  their  dreadful 
work  of  killing,  stripping  the  dead,  and  looting  the 
houses.  No  resistance  was  made  by  the  Armenians. 
Many  of  the  merchants  and  their  clerks  were  killed ; 
thus  at  one  blow  the  Armenian  element  is  eliminated 
from  the  trade  at  Sivas.  The  Armenian  villagers  in 
the  vicinity  have  been  robbed  of  everything,  and  the 
people  are  left  to  beg  and  die.  The  suffering  on  the 
approach  of  winter  will  be  very  great. 

"  As  the  fury  of  this  storm  of  blood  and  greed 
subsided,  the  stricken  Armenians  of   Sivas  slowly 


36  The  Crisis  in  Ttu'lcey. 

gathered  the  mangled  and  naked  bodies  of  their 
kinsmen  to  their  cemetery,  where  a  great  trench  had 
been  dug  to  hold  the  horrid  harvest  of  death.  A 
single  priest  read  a  short  service  over  the  long  and 
ghastly  rank,  and  thus  was  closed  another  chapter 
in  the  yet  unfinished  story  of  cruelty,  lust,  and 
fanaticism." 

Similar  reports  from  a  score  of  other  places  might 
be  given,  but  for  the  fact  that  space  and  the  feelings 
of  the  reader  forbid.  The  story  is  the  same  every- 
where. The  greatest  loss  of  life  was  in  the  province 
of  Harpoot  or  Mamouret-ul-Aziz.  Here  15,000  were 
slaughtered.  Letters  from  that  region  state :  "  The 
Kurds  plunder,  but  do  not  generally  kill  unless  re- 
sisted ;  but  the  Turks  kill  in  cold  blood  and  in  ways 
suggested  by.  the  Arch-Fiend  himself.  The  fate  of 
Ihe  survivors  is  even  worse  than  that  of  those  who 
have  been  killed.  The  villagers  wander  about  the 
fields  houseless,  with  scanty  clothing,  no  food,  and 
winter  is  upon  them.  Everywhere  they  meet  with 
the  dread  alternative,  *  Become  Moslems  or  die.'  At 
least  fourteen  Protestant  pastors,  besides  Gregorian 
priests  and  hundreds  of  their  flocks,  have  been  pub- 
licly martyred  on  refusing  to  deny  their  faith." 

"  In  many  places  the  Moslems  are  picking  up  the 
destitute  widows  and  orphans  and  simply  taking 
possession  of  them  in  order  to  make  them  Moham- 
medans without  any  will  of  their  own."  "  Fifty-five 
Armenian  women  and  girls,  thus  carried  off  from 
Ozoonovah,  a  village  near  Harpoot,  were  being  con- 
veyed along  the  Euphrates,  when,  by  a  swift  de- 
cision, they  all  jumped  into  the  river  and  drowned 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors,  37 

themselves  to  escape  a  life  of  Mohammedan  slavery 
and  bestiality." 

A  letter  from  Cesarea  of  Dec.  3,  1895,  states: 
"  The  method  taken  with  the  women  was  to  de- 
mand that  they  proclaim  themselves  Moslems.  If 
they  refused,  as  many  did,  even  young  girls  from 
twelve  to  fifteen  years  of  age,  they  were  cut  down 
mercilessly.  This  is  not  intended  to  be  a  sensational 
account.  It  is  a  cruel  fact  which  can  be  substantiated 
with  the  utmost  ease." 

Enough  of  this  Chapter  of  Horrors  !  It  has  been 
necessary  to  omit  the  most  cruel  details,  and  the 
stories  of  inhuman  lust  of  which  hundreds  of  pure 
Christian  women,  both  matron  and  maid,  have  been 
the  victims,  shall  not  be  allowed  to  soil  the  pages 
of  this  book  nor  to  defile  the  imagination  of  the 
reader.  It  will  be  sufficient  to  give  a  general  sum- 
mary of  the  massacres  of  October,  November,  and 
December,  1895. 

^  A  GENERAL  SUMMARY. 

Careful  study  of  trustworthy  reports  from  all  the 
regions  devastated  proves  beyond  doubt  that  the 
recent  outbreaks,  while  sudden,  were  under  careful 
direction  in  regard  to  place,  time,  nationality  of  the 
victims  and  of  the  perpetrators,  ivere  prompted  by  a 
common  motive  and  their  true  character  has  been  sys- 
tematically concealed  by  Turkish  official  reports. 

I.  With  some  exceptions,  the  massacres  have  been 
confined  to  the  provinces  to  be  reformed.  In  out- 
rages elsewhere,  as  at  Marash,  Aintab,  Oorfa  and 
Cesarea,  the  Moslems  were  excited  by  the  nearness 


38  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

of  the  scenes  of  massacre,  and  by  the  reports  of  the 
plunder  which  others  were  securing.  The  region 
devastated  is  vast,  being  five  hundred  miles  east  and 
west,  and  three  hundred  north  and  south.  It  ex- 
tends from' Asia  Minor  proper  to  the  Russian  and 
Persian  frontiers,  and  from  the  Black  Sea  to  the 
Mesopotamian  plain. 

2.  The  massacre  in  Trebizond  occurred  just  as  the 
Sultan,  after  six  months  of  refusal,  was  about  to 
consent  to  the  scheme  of  reforms  demanded  by  the 
Powers,  as  if  to  warn  them  that,  in  case  they  per- 
sisted, the  mine  was  already  laid  for  the  destruction 
of  the  Armenians.  In  fact  the  massacre  of  the 
Armenians  is  Turkey's  real  reply  to  the  demands 
of  Europe  that  she  reform.  From  Trebizond  the 
wave  of  murder  and  robbery  swept  on  through 
almost  every  city  and  town  and  village  in  the  six 
provinces  where  reforms  were  promised.  When  the 
news  of  the  first  massacre  reached  Constantinople, 
a  high  Turkish  official  remarked  to  one  of  the  am- 
bassadors that  massacre  was  like  the  small-pox : 
they  must  all  have  it,  but  they  would  n't  need  to 
have  it  the  second  time. 

3.  The  victims  were  exclusively  Armenians.  In 
Trebizond  there  is  a  large  Greek  population,  but 
neither  there  nor  elsewhere  have  the  Greeks  been 
molested.  Special  care  has  also  been  taken  to  avoid 
injury  to  the  subjects  of  foreign  nations,  with  the  idea 
of  escaping  foreign  complications  and  the  payment 
of  indemnities.  The  only  marked  exceptions  were 
in  Marash,  and  in  Harpoot,  where  eight  buildings 
belonging  to  the  American  Mission  were  plundered 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  39 

and  burned,  the  total  losses  exceeding  $100,000,  for 
which  no  indemnity  has  yet  been  paid,  though  more 
than  three  months  has  passed. 

4.  The  method  in  the  cities  has  been  to  kill  within 
a  limited  period  the  largest  number  of  Armenians 
— especially  men  of  business,  capacity  and  intelli- 
gence— and  to  beggar  their  families.  Plence  the  mas- 
sacres were  begun  during  business  hours,  when  the 
Armenians  could  be  caught  in  their  shops,  just  after 
the  noonday  prayer  of  the  Moslems.  The  surprised 
and  unarmed  Armenians  made  little  or  no  resist- 
ance, and  where,  as  at  Diarbekir  and  Gurun,  they 
undertook  to  defend  themselves,  they  suffered  the 
more.  The  killing  was  done  with  guns,  revolvers, 
swords,  clubs,  pickaxes,  and  every  conceivable 
weapon,  and  many  of  the  dead  were  horribly 
mangled.  The  shops  and  houses  were  absolutely 
gutted,  and  often  burned. 

Upon  hundreds  of  villages  the  Turks,  Kurds,  and 
Circassians  came  down  like  the  hordes  of  Tamerlane, 
robbed  the  helpless  peasants  of  their  flocks  and 
herds,  stripped  them  of  their  very  clothing,  and  car- 
ried away  their  bedding,  cooking  utensils,  and  even 
the  little  stores  of  provisions  which  they  had  with 
infinite  care  and  toil  laid  up  for  the  severities  of  a 
rigorous  winter.  Worst  of  all  is  the  bitter  cry  that 
comes  from  every  quarter  that  the  Moslems  carried 
off  hundreds  of  Christian  women  and  children. 

The  number  killed  in  the  massacres  thus  far  is 
estimated  at  forty  thousand.  Not  less  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  wretched  survivors,  most 
of  whom  arc  women  and  children,  are  in  danger  of 


40  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

perishing  by  starvation  and  exposure  unless  foreign 
aid  is  promptly  sent  and  allowed  to  reach  them. 

5.  The  perpetrators  were  the  resident  Moslem 
population — armed  and  instigated  by  the  authorities, 
who  had  previously  disarmed  the  Christians, — rein- 
forced by  Kurds,  Circassians,  and  in  several  cases  by 
the  Sultan's  soldiers  and  officers,  who  began  the 
dreadful  work  at  the  sound  of  a  bugle,  and  desisted 
when  the  bugle  signalled  to  them  to  stop.  This  was 
notoriously  true  in  Erzerum.  In  Harpoot,  also,  the 
soldiers  took  a  prominent  part,  firing  on  the  build- 
ings of  the  American  Mission  with  Martini-Henri 
rifles  and  Krupp  cannon. 

It  is  an  utter  mistake  to  suppose,  as  some  have, 
that  the  local  authorities  could  not  have  suppressed 
the  "  fanatical  "  Moslem  mobs  and  restrained  the 
Kurds.  The  fact  is  that  the  authorities,  after  look- 
ing on  while  the  massacres  were  in  progress,  did 
generally  intervene  and  stop  the  slaughter  in  the 
cities  as  soon  as  the  limited  period  during  which  the 
Moslems  were  allowed  to  kill  and  rob  had  expired. 

6.  The  motive  of  the  Turks  is  apparent  even  to 
the  superficial  observ  r.  The  scheme  of  reforms 
devolved  civil  offices,  judgeships,  and  police  appoint- 
ments on  Mohammedans  and  non-Mohammedans 
in  the  six  provinces  proportionately.  This,  while 
simple  justice,  was  a  bitter  pill  to  the  Mohamme- 
dans, who  had  ruled  the  Christians  with  a  rod  of 
iron  for  five  hundred  years.  All  that  was  needed  to- 
make  the  scheme  of  reforms  inoperative  was  to  alter 
the  proportion  of  Christians  to  Mohammedans.  This 
policy  was  at  once  relentlessly  and  thoroughly  exe- 


A  Chapter  of  Horrors.  41 

cuted.  The  Armenians  have  been  both  diminished 
and  utterly  prostrated,  first,  by  killing  at  a  single 
blow  those  most  capable  of  taking  a  part  in  any 
scheme  of  reconstruction,  and,  secondly,  by  com- 
pelling the  survivors  to  die  of  starvation,  exposure, 
and  sickness  or  to  become  Moslem.  Thousands  in 
despair  of  help  from  God  or  man  have  already  ac- 
cepted the  religion  of  the  murderers  of  their  rela- 
tives. Though  only  an  outward  acceptance  now,  it 
will  soon  become  an  irrevocable  fact,  unless  the  awful 
pressure  of  the  Turks  is  broken  by  foreign  inter- 
vention. 

It  is  the  very  essence  of  Mohammedanism  that 
X^XQ.  ghiaour '^x^.s  no  right  to  live  save  in  subjection. 
The  abortive  schemes  of  Europe  insisting  on  the 
rights  of  Armenians  as  men  and  Christians  have 
enraged  the  Moslems  against  them.  The  arrogant 
and  non-progressive  Turks  know  that  in  a  fair  and 
equal  race  the  Christians  will  outstrip  them  in  every 
department  of  business  and  industry,  and  they  see 
in  any  just  scheme  of  reforms  the  handwriting  on 
the  wall  for  themselves. 

7.  The  refinement  of  cruelty  appears  in  this,  that 
the  Turkish  Government  has  attempted  to  cover  up 
its  hideous  policy  and  deeds  by  the  most  colossal  lying 
and  hypocrisy.  By  the  constant  publication  of  men- 
dacious telegrams  and  reports,  it  has  tried  to  make 
Europe  and  America  believe  that  the  agricultural  and 
commercial  Armenians,  stripped  of  all  weapons  and 
in  a  hopeless  minority,  are  in  rebellion.  It  is  true 
that  on  September  30,  1895,  some  hot-headed  young 
Armenians,  contrary  to  the  entreaties  of  the  Arme- 


42  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

nian  Patriarch  and  the  orders  of  the  poHce,  attempted 
to  take  a  well  worded  petition  to  the  Grand  Vizier, 
according  to  a  time-honored  custom.  It  is  also  true 
that  brave  and  oppressed  mountaineers  in  the  one 
isolated  town  of  Zeitoun  drove  out  a  small  garrison 
of  Turkish  soldiers,  whom,  however,  they  treated 
with  humanity ;  it  is  likewise  true  that  in  various 
places  individual  Armenians,  in  despair,  have  advo- 
cated acts  of  violence  and  revenge  with  the  hope  of 
calling  attention  to  their  wrongs.  But  the  universal 
testimony  of  impartial  foreign  eye-witnesses  is  that, 
with  the  above  exceptions,  the  Armenians  have 
given  no  provocation  whatever.  If  the  Armenians 
made  attacks,  where  are  the  Turkish  dead? 

And  all  this  has  been  done  by  those  wlio  have 
for  years  dazzled  and  deceived  Europe  with  Hatti 
Shereefs  and  Hatti  Humayouns,  promulgating  dvil 
equality  and  religious  liberty  for  their  Christian  sub- 
jects. 

The  Sultan  who  is  the  head  of  all  authority  in 
Turkey,  wrote  to  Lord  Salisbury,  and  pledged  his 
word  of  honor  that  the  scheme  of  reforms  should  be 
carried  out  to  the  letter,  at  the  very  moment  when 
he  was  directing  the  massacres.  And  the  six  great 
Christian  Powers  of  Europe,  as  well  as  the  United 
States,  still  treat  this  man  with  infinite  courtesy  and 
deference. 

The  most  appalling  feature  of  this  vast  tragedy  is 
the  fact  that  all  the  "  civilized  "  and  "  Christian  "  na- 
tions of  the  world  have  watched  it  for  months  with- 
out moving  a  finger  to  check  it.  The  sober  truth  is 
that  civilization  is  not  progress,  and  that  the  Chris- 
tianity of  to-day  is  not  Christian. 


CHAPTER  II. 

GENERAL    INFORMATION    ABOUT    EASTERN 
TURKEY. 

IN  order  that  the  ordinary  reader  may  grasp  the 
situation  in    Armenia,  information   is  given  at 
this  point  in  regard  to  the  country  itself,  its  ad- 
ministration, the  elements  that  compose  the  popula- 
tion, and  their  relations  to  one  another. 

The  massacre  took  place  in  the  mountainous  Sas- 
soun  district  just  south  of  Moosh,  two  days'  ride 
west  of  Bitlis,  a  large  city  where  the  Provincial-Gov- 
ernor and  a  permanent  military  force  reside.  It  is 
near  the  western  end  of  Lake  Van,  about  eight  hun- 
dred miles  east  of  Constantinople,  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  south  of  Trebizond  on  the  Black  Sea,  and 
only  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  Russian 
and  Persian  frontiers  of  Asiatic  Turkey.  These  dis- 
tances do  not  seem  great  until  the  difificulties  of 
travel  are  considered.  The  roads  are,  in  most  cases, 
bridle  paths,  impassable  for  vehicles,  without  bridges, 
infested  with  highwaymen,  and  unprovided  with 
lodging-places.  It  is,  therefore,  necessary  to  go  to 
the  expense  of  hiring  government  guards,  and  to 
burden  oneself  with  all  articles  likely  to  be  needed 
CD  the  way — tents,  food  supplies,  cooking  utensils, 

43 


44  ^The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

beds,  etc.,  which  also  imply  cooks,  baggage  horses, 
and  grooms.  Thus  equipped,  it  is  possible,  after 
obtaining  the  necessary  government  permits,  often  a 
matter  of  vexatious  delay,  to  move  about  the  coun- 
try. The  ordinary  rate  is  from  twenty  to  thirty 
miles  a  day.  With  a  good  horse  and  no  baggage  I 
have  gone  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  from  Har- 
poot  to  Van,  in  eight  days,  but  that  was  quite  ex- 
ceptional. In  spring,  swollen  streams  and  mud ;  in 
summer,  oppressive  heat ;  and  in  winter,  storms,  are 
serious  impediments.  In  the  neighborhood  of  Bitlis 
the  telegraph  poles  are  sometimes  buried,  and  horses 
cannot  be  taken  out  of  the  stables  on  account  of 
the  snow.  The  mails  are  often  weeks  behind,  both 
in  arriving  and  departing,  and  even  Turkish  light- 
ning seems  to  be  yavash,  and  crawl  sluggishly  along 
the  wires. 

Turkish  Armenia — by  the  way,  "  Armenia  "  is  a 
name  prohibited  in  Turkey — is  a  large  plateau  quad- 
rangular in  shape,  and  sixty  thousand  square  miles 
in  area,  about  the  size  of  Iowa.  It  is  bounded  on 
the  north  by  the  Russian  frontier,  a  line  from  the 
Black  Sea  to  Mount  Ararat,  by  Persia  on  the  east,  the 
Mesopotamian  plain  on  the  south,  and  Asia  Minor 
on  the  west.  It  contains  about  six  hundred  thousand 
Armenians,  which  is  only  one  fourth  the  number 
found  in  all  Turkey.  The  surface  is  rough,  consist- 
ing of  valleys  and  plains  from  four  to  six  thousand 
feet  above  sea-level,  broken  and  shut  in  by  bristling 
peaks  and  mountain  ranges,  from  ten  to  seventeen 
thousand  feet  high,  as  in  the  case  of  Ararat.  Ancient 
Armenia  greatJ/  varied  in  extent  at  different  epochs. 


Information  about  Eastern  Turkey.      45 

reaching  to  the  Caspian  at  one  time,  and  even  bor- 
dering on  the  Mediterranean  Sea  during  the  Crusades. 
It  included  the  Southern  Caucasus,  which  now  con- 
tains a  large,  growing,  prosperous,  and  happy  Arme- 
nian population  under  the  Czar,  whose  government 
allows  them  the  free  exercise  of  their  ancestral  re- 
ligion, and  admits  them  to  many  high  civil  and  mili- 
tary positions.  The  Armenians  now  number  about 
four  million,  of  whom  two  million  five  hundred 
thousand  are  in  Turkey,  one  million  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  in  Russia,  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  in  Persia  and  other  parts  of  Asia,  one  hun- 
dred thousand  scattered  through  Europe,  and  five 
thousand  in  the  United  States. 

The  scenery,  while  harsh,  owing  to  the  lack  of  ver- 
dure, is  on  a  grand  scale.  Around  the  shores  of  the 
great  Van  Lake  are  many  views  of  entrancing  beauty. 
The  climate  is  temperate  and  the  atmosphere  bril- 
liant and  stimulating.  It  is  a  dry,  treeless  region, 
but  fertile  under  irrigation,  and  abounding  in  mineral 
wealth,  including  coal.  Owing  to  primitive  methods 
of  agriculture,  and  to  danger  while  reaping  and  even 
planting  crops,  only  a  small  part  is  under  cultivation, 
and  frequent  famines  are  the  result.  The  mineral 
resources  are  entirely  untouched,  because  the  Turks 
lack  both  capital  and  brains  to  develop  them,  and 
prevent  foreigners  from  doing  it  lest  this  might 
open  the  door  for  further  European  inspection  and 
interference  with  their  methods  of  administering  the 
country. 

All  local  authority  is  practically  in  the  hands  of 
the  ValiSj  provincial  governors,  who   are  sent  from 


46  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

Constantinople  to  represent  the  sovereign,  and  are 
accountable  to  him  alone.  The  blind  policy  which 
was  inaugurated  by  the  present  Sultan  of  dismissing 
non-Moslems  from  every  branch  of  public  service — 
post,  telegraph,  custom-house,  internal  revenue,  en- 
gineering, and  the  like — has  already  been  carried  out 
to  a  large  extent  all  over  the  empire,  and  especially 
in  Armenia.  The  frequent  changes  in  Turkish  offi- 
cials keeps  their  business  in  a  state  of  "  confusion 
worse  confounded,"  and  incites  them  to  improve 
their  chance  to  plunder  while  it  lasts.  Traces  of  the 
relatively  large  revenue,  wrung  from  the  people,  and 
spent  in  improvements  of  service  to  them,  are  very 
hard  to  find. 

THE  INHABITANTS. 

Probably  about  one  half  of  the  population  of 
Turkish  Armenia  is  Mohammedan,  composed  of 
Turks  and  Kurds.  The  former  are  mostly  found  in 
and  near  the  large  cities,  such  as  Erzingan,  Baibourt, 
Erzerum,  and  Van,  and  the  plains  along  the  northern 
part.  The  Kurds  live  in  their  mountain  villages 
over  the  whole  region.  The  term  Kurdistan,  which 
in  this  region  the  Turkish  Government  is  trying  to 
substitute  for  the  historical  one  Armenia,  has  no 
political  or  geographical  propriety  except  as  indicat- 
ing the  much  larger  area  over  which  the  Kurds  are 
scattered.  In  this  vague  sense  it  applies  to  a  stretch 
of  mountainous  country  about  fifteen  hundred  miles 
in  length,  starting  between  Erzingan  and  Malatiah, 
and  sweeping  east  and  south  over  into  Persia  as  far 
as  Kermanshah. 


A  KURD  OF  THE  OLD  TYPE. 


47 


48  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

The  number  of  the  Kurds  is  very  uncertain.  Neither 
Sultan  nor  Shah  has  ever  attempted  a  census  of  them ; 
and  as  they  are  very  indifferent  taxpayers,  the  revenue 
tables — wilfully  distorted  for  political  purposes — are 
quite  unreliable.  From  the  estimates  of  British  con- 
sular officers  there  appear  to  be  about  one  and  a  half 
million  Turkish  Kurds,  of  whom  about  600,000  are  in 
the  vilayets  of  Erzroom,  Van,  and  Bitlis,  and  the  rest 
in  the  vilayets  of  Harpoot,  Diarbekir,  Mosul,  and 
Bagdad.  This  is  a  very  liberal  estimate.  There  are 
also  supposed  to  be  about  750,000  in  Persia.' 

The  Kurds,  whose  natural  instincts  lead  them  to  a 
pastoral  and  predatory  life,  are  sedentary  or  nomad 
according  to  local  and  climatic  circumstances.  Where 
exposed  to  a  severe  mountain  winter  they  live  ex- 
clusively in  villages,  and  in  the  case  of  Bitlis  have 
even  formed  a  large  part  of  the  city  population.  But 
the  tribes  in  the  south,  who  have  access  to  the  Meso- 
potamian  plains,  prefer  a  migratory  life,  oscillating 
with  the  season  between  the  lowlands  and  the  moun- 
tains. The  sedentary  greatly  outnumber  the  nomad 
Kurds,  but  the  latter  are  more  wealthy,  independent, 
and  highly  esteemed.  There  is,  probably,  little  eth- 
nic distinction  between  the  two  classes. 

A  fourteenth-century  list  of  Kurdish  tribes  contains 
many  names  identical  with  those  of  powerful  families 
who  claim  a  remote  ancestry.  "  There  was,  up  to  a 
recent  period,  no  more  picturesque  or  interesting 
scene  to  be  witnessed  in  the  East  than  the  court  of 
one  of  these  great  Kurdish  chiefs,  where,  like  another 
Saladin,  [who  was  a  Kurd  himself,]  the  bey  ruled  in 
'  Encyc,  Britannica,  "  Kurdistan." 


Information  about  Eastern  Turkey.      49 

patriarchal  state,  surrounded  by  hereditary  nobility, 
regarded  by  his  clansmen  with  reverence  and  affec- 
tion, and  attended  by  a  body-guard  of  young  Kurdish 
warriors,  clad  in  chain  armor,  with  flaunting  silken 
scarfs,  and  bearing  javelin,  lance,  and  sword  as  in  the 
time  of  the  crusaders."  *  Within  two  days'  ride 
southeast  of  Van,  I  found  the  ruins  of  four  massive 
Kurdish  castles  at  Shaddakh,  Norduz,Bashkallah,  and 
Khoshab,  which  must  have  rivalled  those  of  the  feudal 
barons  on  the  Rhine.  The  Armenian  and  Nestorian 
villagers  were  much  better  off  as  serfs  of  the  power- 
ful masters  of  these  strongholds  than  as  the  victims 
of  Kurdish  plunder  and  of  Ottoman  taxation  and 
oppression  which  they  now  are. 

The  Kurds  are  naturally  brave  and  hospitable,  and, 
in  common  with  many  other  Asiatic  races,  possess 
certain  rude  but  strict  feelings  of  honor.  But  since 
their  power  has  been  broken  by  the  Turks,  their 
castles  ruined,  and  their  chiefs  exiled,  these  finer 
qualities  and  more  chivalrous  sentiments  have  also 
largely  disappeared  under  the  principle  of  noblesse 
oblige  reversed.  In  most  regions  they  have  degener- 
ated into  a  wild,  lawless  set  of  brigands,  proud, 
treacherous,  and  cruel.  The  traditions  of  their  for- 
mer position  and  power  serve  only  to  feed  their 
hatred  of  the  Turks  who  caused  their  fall,  and  their 
jealousy  and  contempt  of  the  Christians  who  have 
been  for  generations  their  serfs,  whose  progress  and 
increase  they  cannot  tolerate. 

One  who  has  a  taste  for  adventure  and  is  willing 
to  take  his  life  in  his  hands,  can  find  among  them  as 
■  Encyc.  Britannica,  "  Kurdistan." 

4 


50 


The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 


fine  specimens  of  the  human  animal  as  are  to  be 
found  anywhere — sinewy,  agile,  and  alert,  with  a 
steady  penetrating  eye  as  cool,  cold,  and  cruel  as  that 


RUINS  OF  A   KURDISH   CASTLE  AT  KHOSHAB. 

of  a  tiger.  I  vividly  recollect  having  just  this  impres- 
sion under  circumstances  analogous  to  that  of  a 
hunter  who  suddenly  finds  himself  face  to  face  with 


Information  about  Eastern  Turkey,      5 1 

a  lord  of  the  jungle.  There  was  no  sense  of  fear,  at 
the  time,  but  rather  a  keen  delight  and  fascination  in 
watching  the  magnificent  creature  before  me.  His 
thin  aquiline  face,  his  neck  and  hands  were  stained  by 
the  weather  to  a  brown  as  delicate  as  that  of  a 
meerschaum  pipe,  and  on  his  broad  exposed  breast 
the  thick  growth  of  hair  obliterated  any  impression 
of  nudeness.  For  a  few  moments  he  seemed  engaged 
in  some  sinister  calculation,  but  at  last  quietly  moved 
away.  Perhaps  he  wanted  only  a  cigarette.  Perhaps 
he  wondered  if  I,  too,  had  claws.  The  Winchester 
rifle  behind  his  back  did  not  escape  my  notice,  nor 
did  the  gun  across  my  saddle  escape  his.  It  is  hardly 
necessary  to  remind  those  who  may  desire  such  ex- 
periences as  the  above,  that  the  usual  retinue  of  cooks, 
servants,  and  zabtieJis  should  be  dispensed  with  in 
order  to  secure  the  best  opportunities  for  observation. 

The  Kurdish  costumes,  always  picturesque,  show 
much  local  variation  in  cut  and  color.  The  beys 
and  khans  of  the  colder  north  almost  invariably  pre- 
fer broadcloth,  and  find  the  finest  fabrics  and  richest 
shades — specially  imported  for  them — none  too  good. 
But  the  loose  flowing  garments  of  the  Sheikhs  and 
wealthy  Kocher  nomads  of  the  south  are  often  very 
inexpensive,  and  suggest  Arab  simplicity  and  dig- 
nity. There  is,  no  doubt,  considerable  Arab  blood 
in  some  of  these  families,  who  refer  to  the  fact  with 
pride. 

The  women  of  the  Kurds,  contrary  to  usual  Mo- 
hammedan custom,  go  unveiled  and  have  large  lib- 
erty, but  there  is  no  reason  to  suspect  their  virtue. 
Their  prowess,  also,  is  above  reproach,  and  rash  would 


52  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

be  the  man,  Turk  or  Christian,  who  would  venture 
to  invade  the  mountain  home  when  left  in  charge  of 
its  female  defenders.  On  the  whole,  the  Kurds  are 
a  race  of  fine  possibilities,  far  superior  to  the  North 
American  Indian,  to  whom  they  are  often  ignorantly 
compared.  Under  a  just,  intelligent,  and  firm  gov- 
ernment much  might  be  expected  of  them  in  time. 

They  keep  up  a  strict  tribal  relation,  owing  alle- 
giance to  their  Sheikhs,  some  of  whom  are  still  strong 
and  rich,  and  engage  in  bitter  feuds  with  one 
another.  They  could  not  stand  a  moment  against 
the  Ottoman  power  if  determined  to  crush  and  dis- 
arm them.  But  three  years  ago  His  Majesty  sum- 
moned the  chiefs  to  the  capital,  presented  them  with 
decorations,  banners,  uniforms,  and  military  titles, 
and  sent  them  back  to  organize  their  tribes  into 
cavalry  regiments,  on  whom  he  was  pleased  to  be- 
stow the  name  Hainedic'Ji,  after  his  own.  Thus, 
shrewdly  appealing  to  their  pride  of  race,  and  wink- 
ing at  their  subsequent  acts,  the  Sultan  obtained  a 
power  eager  in  time  of  peace  to  crush  Armenian 
growth  and  spirit,  and  a  bulwark  that  might  check, 
in  his  opinion,  the  first  waves  of  the  next  dreaded 
Russian  invasion.  In  the  last  war  the  Kurdish  con- 
tingent was  worse  than  useless  as  was  shown  by  Mr. 
Norman,'  of  the  London  Times. 

The  Armenians,  a  very  important  element  of  the 
population,  are  generally  known  as  being  bright, 
practical,  industrious,  and  moral.  They  are  of  a 
very  peaceable  disposition,  and  entirely  unskilled 
in  the  use  of   arms,  the  mere  possession  of  which 

*  Armenia  and  the  Catnpaign  0/1877. 


Information  about  Eastern  Turkey.      53 

is  a  serious  crime  in  the  case  of  Christians,  al- 
though the  Kurds  are  well  equipped  with  modern 
rifles  and  revolvers,  and  always  carry  them.  Their 
great  and  fundamental  weakness,  seen  through  all 
their  history,  is  a  lack  of  coherence,  arising  from 
their  exaggerated  individualism.  They  have  the 
distinction  of  being  the  first  race  who  accepted 
Christianity,  King  Dertad  receiving  baptism  in  276 
A.  D.,  thirty-seven  years  before  Constantine  ventured 
to  issue  even  the  Edict  of  Toleration.  Their  martyr 
roll  has  grown  with  every  century.  The  fact  that 
the  Armenian  stock  exists  at  all  to-day,  is  proof  of 
its  wonderful  vitality  and  excellent  quality.  For 
three  thousand  years  Armenia,  on  account  of  her 
location,  has  been  trampled  into  dust  both  by  devas- 
tating armies  and  by  migrating  hordes.  She  has 
been  the  prey  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  Xerxes,  and  Alex- 
ander; of  the  Romans,  the  Parthians,  and  Persians; 
of  Byzantine,  Saracen,  and  Crusader;  of  Seljuk  and 
Ottoman,  and  Russian  and  Kurd.  Through  this 
awful  record,  the  Christian  church  founded  by 
Gregory,  "  The  Illuminator,"  has  been  the  one  rally- 
ing point  and  source  of  strength,  and  this  explains 
the  tremendous  power  of  the  Cross  on  the  hearts  of 
all,  even  of  the  most  ignorant  peasant. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   CHRONIC  CONDITION   OF  ARMENIA 
AND   KURDISTAN. 

MANY  statements  in  regard  to  the  state  of 
affairs  in  Eastern  Turkey  are  criticised  as 
being  too  sweeping  and  general,  and  the  in- 
ference is  drawn  that  they  are  exaggerations,  not 
based  on  exact  knowledge  of  the  facts.  This  chap- 
ter will,  therefore,  contain  nothing  but  definite  inci- 
dents and  figures,  names  and  places  also  b,eing  added 
regardless  of  consequences.  This  information  is  fur- 
nished by  a  trustworthy  authority  on  the  ground,  and 
has  already  been  published  in  The  Independeiit,  of 
Kew  York,  January  17,  1895,  from  which  I  quote 
verbatim.  It  shows  the  usual  course  of  things  in 
times  of  so-called  peace  between  Kurds  and  their 
Christian  slaves,  and  indicates  to  what  sort  of  a  life 
these  Armenian,  Jacobite,  and  Nestorian  Christians 
are  condemned  when  no  massacre  is  in  hand.  From 
iny  own  residence  and  travels  in  Armenia,  I  know 
that  the  incidents  related  would  apply  to  hundreds 
of  villages  with  simply  a  change  of  name. 

"yi  Partial  List  of  Exactions  made  upon  the  Village 
of  Mansiirich  of  Bohtan  (Kaimakamlik  of  Jezireh) 
by  the  government,  and  by  Mustapha  Pasha,  a  Kurd- 
ish Kocher,  or  nomad  chief,  in  1893  : 

54 


Condition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.     55 


SUMMARY. 

r  Excess  of  official  de- 
mand    3,000  ps.* 

1.  Government  Exaction -<  Amount  of  double  tax  4,000 

Produce  taken  by  gen- 
(_     darmes 2,000        g,ooo  ps. 

2.  ExactionbyM.  Pasha.     Excess  of  tithe  revenue  1,500 

Damage  to  crops 2,000        3, 500 

Total  excess  taken  from  village  for  1893 12,500 

Total  of  legitimate  taxes  on  village  for  the  year. . .       14,000 

The  village  complained  to  the  government  of 
Mustapha  Pasha's  exactions,  but  no  redress  was  given 
by  the  government,  nor  anything  done  to  Mustapha 
Pasha,  who,  when  he  learned  of  their  having  made 
complaint,  sent  droves  of  sheep  to  devour  the  crops 
that  remained,  viz.,  five  pieces  of  ground  sown  and 
bearing  cotton,  millet,  flaxseed,  etc.,  valued  at  2000 
piasters." 

^^  Partial  List  of  Exaction  by  AgJias  of  SJiernakh  (one 
day  north  of  Jezireh),  from  Hassana  of  Bohtan,  dur- 
ing years  i89i-'93.     Hassana  has  sixty  houses  : 
1893. 

Use  of  30  men   to   carry  flour  for   Mohammed 

Agha,  2  days 150  ps. 

For  Mohammed  Agha,  cash  10  liras 1,000 

"               "             "      15  pieces  of  cloth 150 

"    Taher  Agha,  cash  14  liras 1,400 

"         *'         "       taken  from  village  priest,  cash 
75    ps.,    saddle    75    ps.,  watch 

200  ps 350 

"    Sahdoon  Agha,  cash  2  liras 200 

*'    Mohammed 120 

Carried  forward 3,370  ps. 

*  A  piastre  is  a  Turkish  coin  of  about  five  cents,  or  two  pence- 
half  penny.  In  this  region  the  pay  of  a  day  laborer  is  from  two  to 
five  piastres. 


56  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

Brought  forward 3i370  ps. 

For  Khorsheed 57 

"    Mohammed  Agha,  harvest,  500  men  at  3  ps. .   1,500 
'*  "  "      repair  of  his  roads,  65  men, 

3  days 487 

"  **  "      repair  of  his  roads,  somen, 

3  days . .........    375 

**  "  "      preparation  of  boiled  wheat 

for  winter,  450  men  and 

14  animals 1,160 

'•  "  "      building  house  in   Dader, 

150  men 375 

**  '•  "      2000     ceiling    sticks,     10 

posts 554 

"  "  "4  large  trees  for  rafters,  at 

50  ps 200 

Total  for  1893  8,078  ps. 

The  above  were  noted  in  a  book  at  the  time  of  the 
occurrence  by  a  village  priest,  as  being  seen  by  him 
personally,  and  do  not  give  the  great  part  of  the  ex- 
actions of  the  Shernakh  Kurds,  which  he  did  not  see. 

One  item  additional  to  above :  all  the  cotton  of 
Mohammed  Agha  of  Shernakh  is,  by  the  villagers, 
beaten,  spun,  twisted,  woven,  and  returned  as  cloth 
(involving  many  days'  labor  and  two  days*  journey), 
and  any  weight  lost  in  the  making  up  the  amount 
must  be  made  good. 

This  oppression  is  increasing  from  year  to  year. 
The  above  priest  noted  for  years  i88(>-'82,  taken  by 
Aghas — cash,  4141  ps. ;  90  animals  used,  450  ps. ; 
314  men  used,  785  ps.  Total  for  three  years,  5376, 
as  over  against  10,973  ps.  for  three  years,  i89i-'93." 

"  Testimony  given  in  writing,  by  a  Christian  of  the 
District  of  Berwer,  in  reference  to  the  oppression  of 
Christians  in  that  district  by  the  Kurds,  of  which  he 
himself  was  an  eye-witness,  the  examples  given  being 
confined  to  three  small  villages  and  of  recent  occur- 


Condition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan      57 

fence.  He  gives  the  names  of  places  and  of  the 
parties  concerned,  both  Kurds  and  Christians.  We 
summarize  them. 

Murders. — Eight  men  mentioned  by  name,  others 
generalized. 

Robbery. — Cash,  9  liras;  again  10  liras  ;  again  15 
liras ;  smaller  sums  being  taken  continually. 

Mohammed  Beg,  of  Berwer,  and  his  relatives  re-, 
sponsible  in  greater  part  for  the  above;  also  for 
robbing  of  two  houses  in  Ina  D'Noony. 

For  generations  these  Christians  have  sown  the 
fields  of  these  Kurds,  harvested  them,  done  their 
threshing,  irrigated  their  fields,  cut  and  brought  in 
the  grass  as  fodder  for  the  sheep  for  use  during  the 
winter,  together  with  much  other  labor,  and  all  with- 
out recompense,  they  finding  themselves. 

(These  things  are  accompanied,  of  course,  with 
cursings  and  beatings.)" 

"  A  number  of  Christian  villages  lying  farther  back 
in  the  mountains  are  even  moie  severely  oppressed. 
The  people  are  literally  bought  and  sold  as  slaves. 
In  other  districts  the  buying  and  selling  of  Christians 
by  Kurds  is  common." 

"  Village  of  Shakh  (five  hours  from  Jezireh)  ;  like 
Mansurieh  deserted  for  months  by  reason  of  extor- 
tion by  tax  collectors.  Many  of  the  people  lived 
during  the  winter  in  caves  in  the  mountains." 

"  The  writer  was  in  Nahrwan  when  the  Kaimakam 
of  Jezireh  came,  several  weeks  after  a  murder,  to 
examine  into  it.  The  examination  was  rendered 
so  oppressive  to  the  Christians  that  the  people  were 
glad  to  declare  that  nothing  had  happened,  in  order  to 


58  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

escape  any  further  inquisition.  Even  the  old  mother 
of  the  murdered  man  was  frightened  until  she  de- 
clared that  she  did  not  know  of  any  such  occurrence, 
and  had  no  complaints  to  make  against  anybody." 

"  Kannybalaver — Kaimakamlik  of  Amadia.  Dur- 
ing the  years  i893-'94  this  village  was  raided  sev- 
eral times  by  the  Gugier  and  Sendier  Kurds  of  the 
Kaimakamlik  of  Jezireh.  They  took  one  hundred 
head  of  animals,  field  tools,  household  utensils,  beds, 
wool  and  yarn,  gall-nuts — all  of  their  fall  gathering, — 
and  dry  goods  which  had  been  brought  in  to  sell. 
At  their  last  visit  everything  movable  was  carried 
off,  and  the  people  deserted  the  village.  A  leading 
man  of  the  village,  Gegoo  by  name,  was  seized  by 
the  Kurds,  carried  for  several  miles,  and  was  then 
murdered  in  cold  blood.  There  were  about  one  hun- 
dred Kurds  in  the  band  led  by  Ahrno,  brother  of 
Hassu  of  Ukrul  and  Kerruvanu.  The  chief  men  of 
their  village  are  Sherriffu  and  Hassu,  who  would  be 
responsible  for  such  a  raid." 

"  In  the  city  of  Mosul,  where  there  is  a  Vali,  Chris- 
tians are  robbed  and  killed  openly.  Three  cases  are 
given.  Last  year  a  young  man,  of  the  Protestant  com, 
munity,  of  high  standing  in  the  city  as  a  merchant, 
was  standing  before  his  door  when  two  young  Kurds 
of  notorious  character  came  along,  and  one  of  them, 
without  the  slightest  provocation,  at  the  time  or 
previously,  from  mere  wantonness,  stabbed  him,  and 
would  have  killed  him  had  he  not  been  restrained. 
The  family  of  the  man,  though  one  of  the  most  in- 
fluential families  among  the  Christians  of  the  city, 
did  not  dare  to  make  accusation  against  him,  know- 
ing that  the  only  result  would  be  more  bloodshed." 


Conaition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.     59 

"An  old  missionary  who  has  been  familiar  with  the 
region  from  Bohtan  to  Amadia  for  years,  says  these 
oppressions  are  increasing,  and  unless  something  is 
done  speedily,  all  the  Christian  villages  of  these 
various  districts  will  soon  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Kurds  just  as  they  have  in  Zabur." 

"These  instances  of  oppression  given  are  but  a  few 
of  the  many  which  might  be  given.  Indeed  it  is 
not  these  greater  occurrences,  as  the  big  raids  and 
murders,  which  are  the  most  serious  to  the  Chris- 
tian. It  is  the  daily  constant  exactions  and  oppres- 
sions which  are  crushing  the  life  out  of  them." 

A  whole  chapter  might  well  be  devoted  to  the 
oppression  by  government  officials  in  assessing  and 
collecting  taxes.  This  evil  is  general,  affecting  all 
Turkey.  A  brief  summary  of  these  abuses  as  gener- 
ally practised  will  be  given.  In  view  of  the  poverty- 
stricken  condition  of  the  land,  even  the  legitimate 
taxes  are  an  exceedingly  heavy  burden  on  Moslem 
and  Christian  alike,  but  the  burden  is  greatly  in- 
creased by  the  methods  here  classified  : 


SUMMARY   OF   ABUSES. 

"  I.   Unjust  and  corrupt  assessments. 

1.  Villagers  are  compelled  to  give  assessors  pres- 
ents of  money  to  prevent  them  from  over  estimating 
the  taxable  persons  and  property. 

2.  Assessors,  to  secure  additional  bribes,  signify 
their  willingness  to  make  an  underestimate.  This, 
in  turn,  affords  opportunity  for  blackmail,  which  is 
used  by  succeeding  officials," 


6o  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

'*  II.  Injustice  and  severity  in  collecting. 

1.  The  collectors,  like  the  assessors,  have  ways  of 
extorting  presents  and  bribes  from  the  people. 

2.  The  collectors,  as  a  rule,  go  to  the  villages  on 
Sunday,  as  on  that  day  they  find  the  people  in  the 
village.  They  frequently  interrupt  the  Christian 
services,  and  show  disrespect  to  their  churches  or 
places  of  prayer. 

3.  The  collection  of  the  taxes  is  accompanied  with 
unnecessary  abuse  and  reviling,  sometimes  even  with 
wanton  destruction  of  property. 

4.  Disregard  of  impoverished  condition  of  people. 
Even  after  several  failures  of  crops  in  succession, 
when  famine  was  so  severe  that  the  people  were 
many  of  them  being  fed  by  foreign  charity,  the 
taxes  were  collected  in  full  and  with  severity. 

Their  food  supply,  beds,  household  utensils,  and 
farming  implements  were  seized  by  the  collectors  in 
lieu  of  taxes.  Many  were  compelled  to  borrow 
money  at  enormous  rates  of  interest,  mortgaging 
their  fields  and  future  crops.  Unscrupulous  officials 
and  other  Kurds,  in  whose  interests  such  opportu- 
nities are  created,  thus  became  possessed  of  Christian 
villages,  the  people  of  which  henceforth  becoming 
practically  slaves  to  them. 

5.  These  collectors  make  false  returns  of  taxes 
received.  The  official  in  the  city  is  secured  by  a 
bribe,  and  the  matter  is  kept  quiet  until  a  succeed- 
ing set  of  officials  come  into  office.  They  send  their 
officers  to  the  villages  to  present  claims  for  back 
taxes.  The  villagers  in  vain  contend  that  they  have 
paid  them.    They  have  no  receipts.    They  do  not 


Condition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.     6i 

dare  to  ask  for  them.  Or  the  head  man  of  the,  vil- 
lage who  keeps  the  account  has  been  bribed  to  falsify 
his  accounts.  These  taxes  are  collected  again,  en- 
tailing much  suffering  upon  the  people. 

6.  The  books  in  the  government  ofifices  at  the 
Kaimakamlik  are  often  incorrect  through  mistakes 
or  dishonesty,  and  in  consequence  taxes  are  paid  on 
fictitious  names  or  on  persons  who  have  been  dead 
for  years." 

"III.  Farming  of  taxes. 

Taxes  are  often  farmed  out  to  the  highest  bidder, 
who  usually  is  some  powerful  Kurdish  chief.  Either 
in  consequence  of  his  power,  or  by  means  of  bribes, 
he  is  secure  from  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
government.  He  collects  the  amount  due  the  gov- 
ernment and  then  takes  for  himself  as  much  as  he 
chooses,  his  own  will  or  an  exhausted  threshing-floor 
being  the  only  limit  to  his  rapacity. 

While  he  is  collector  for  these  villages  they  are 
considered  as  belonging  to  him.  During  the  year 
his  followers  pay  frequent  visits  to  the  villages. 
They  are  ignorant  and  brutal,  and  on  such  visits,  as 
also  when  collecting  taxes,  they  treat  the  villagers 
with  the  utmost  severity." 

"  IV.  All  the  above  assessors  and  collectors — and 
they  are  many,  a  different  one  for  each  kind  of  tax, 
personal,  house  and  land,  sheep,  tobacco,  etc. — on 
their  visits  to  the  villages,  take  with  them  a  retinue 
of  servants  and  soldiers,  who,  with  their  horses,  -must 
be  kept  at  the  expense  of  the  village,  thus  entailing 
a  very  heavy  additional  burden  upon  them.  Sol- 
diers and   servants  sent  to  the  villagers   to   make 


62  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

collections,  very  naturally  take  something  for  them- 
selves." 

All  the  preceding  testimony  refers  to  regions  where 
Jacobite  and  Nestorian  Christians  predominate  and 
thus  prove  that  Armenians  are  by  no  means  the  only 
sufferers. 

The  same  state  of  affairs  was  found  by  Mrs. 
Bishop,  who  made  investigations  on  the  ground  five 
years  ago. 

"  On  the  whole,  the  same  condition  of  alarm  pre- 
vails among  the  Armenians  as  I  witnessed  previ- 
ously among  the  Syrian  ^  rayahs.  It  is  more  than 
alarm,  it  is  abject  terror,  and  not  without  good 
reason.  In  plain  English,  general  lawlessness  pre- 
vails over  much  of  this  region.  Caravans  are  stopped 
and  robbed,  travelling  is,  for  Armenians,  absolutely 
unsafe,  sheep  and  cattle  are  being  driven  off,  and 
outrages,  which  it  would  be  inexpedient  to  narrate, 
are  being  perpetrated.  Nearly  all  the  villages  have 
been  reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  are  squeezed  for  the  taxes  which  the 
Kurds  have  left  them  without  the  means  of  paying. 

The  repressive  measures  which  have  everywhere 
followed  'the  Erzerum  troubles'  of  last  June  [1890] 
— the  seizure  of  arms,  the  unchecked  ravages  of  the 
Kurds,  the  threats  of  the  Kurdish  Beys,  who  are 
boldly  claiming  the  sanction  of  the  government  for 
their  outrages,  the  insecurity  of  the  women,  and  a 
dread  of  yet  worse  to  come — have  reduced  these 
peasants  to  a  pitiable  state."  * 

'  Often  called  Nestorian. 

'  Mrs.  Isabella  Bird  Bishop,  yourneys  m  Persia  and  Kurdistan^ 
vol.  ii.,  p.  374,  375.     • 


Condition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.     63 

Through  the  influence  of  the  British  Ambassador 
at  Constantinople  Mrs.  Bishop  was  allowed  to  state 
the  situation  to  the  Grand  Vizier  in  person,  and  on 
arriving  in  England  she  presented  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  facts  to  the  Foreign  OflEice  and  also  to  a 
Parliamentary  Committee, 

That  the  recent  outrages  in  Sassoun  are  conspicu- 
ous by  their  extent  rather  than  character,  the  follow- 
ing incident,  which  came  within  the  author's  own 
knowledge,  on  the  ground  at  the  time,  will  show. 
In  June,  1893,  four  young  Armenians  and  their 
wives,  living  only  two  miles  from  the  city  of  Van, 
where  the  Governor  and  a  large  military  force  reside, 
were  picking  herbs  on  the  hillside.  They  carefully 
kept  together  and  intended  to  return  before  night. 
They  were  observed  by  a  band  of  passing  Kurds, 
who,  in  broad  daylight,  fell  upon  the  defenceless 
party,  butchered  the  young  men,  and,  as  to  the 
brides,  it  is  needless  to  relate  further.  The  villagers 
going  out  the  next  day  found  the  four  bodies,  not 
simply  dead,  but  slashed  and  disfigured  almost  be- 
yond recognition.  They  resolved  to  make  a  des- 
perate effort  to  let  their  wrongs  at  least  be  known. 

Hastily  yoking  up  four  rude  ox  carts,  they  placed 
on  each  the  naked  remains  of  one  of  the  victims, 
witl  his  distracted  widow  sitting  by  the  side,  shorn 
of  her  hair  in  token  of  dishonor.  This  gruesome 
procession  soon  reached  the  outskirts  of  the  city, 
where  it  was  met  by  soldiers  sent  to  turn  it  back. 
The  unarmed  villagers  offer  no  resistance,  but  declare 
their  readiness  to  perish  if  not  heard.  The  soldiers 
shrink   from   extreme    measures   that   might   cause 


64  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

trouble  among  the  thirty  thousand  Armenians  of 
Van,  who  are  now  rapidly  gathering  about  the  scene. 
The  Turkish  bayonets  retreat  before  the  bared 
breasts  of  the  villagers.  With  ever  increasing 
numbers,  but  without  tumult,  the  procession  passed 
before  the  doors  of  the  British  and  Russian  Vice- 
Consulates,  of  the  Persian  Consul-General,  the  Chief 
of  Police  and  other  high  oflficials,  till  it  paused  be- 
fore the  great  palace  of  the  Governor. 

At  this  point  Bahri  Pasha,  who  is  still  Governor, 
stuck  his  head  out  of  the  second-story  window  and 
said  :  "  I  see  it.  Too  bad  !  Take  them  away  and 
bury  them.  I  will  do  what  is  necessary."  Within 
two  days  some  Kurds  were  brought  in,  among  whom 
were  several  who  were  positively  identified  by  the 
women  ;  but,  upon  their  denying  the  crime,  they 
were  immediately  released  and  escaped.  The  utter 
hopelessness  of  securing  any  justice  was  so  apparent, 
and  experience  had  so  often  demonstrated  the  dan- 
ger of  arousing  the  Kurds  to  greater  atrocity  by 
further  efforts  to  punish  them,  that  the  case  was 
dropped  and  soon  forgotten  in  the  callousness  pro- 
duced by  other  cases  of  frequent  occurrence.  The 
system  of  mail  inspection  is  so  effective  (all  letters 
of  subjects  must  be  handed  in  open  at  the  post-office) 
and  the  danger  of  reporting  is  so  great  that  I  doubt 
that  any  account  of  this  incident  has  ever  been 
given  to  the  civilized  world.  This  case  was  doubtless 
reported  by  the  former  British  Vice-Consul,  unless 
he  was  busy  hunting,  and,  as  usual,  was  buried  in  the 
archives  of  the  Foreign  Office  for  "  state  reasons." 

A  foreign  physician,  never  a  missionary,  and  now 


Condition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.     65 

out  of  the  country,  told  me  that  during  a  large  prac- 
tice of  a  year  and  a  half  in  Armenia,  while  using 
every  effort  to  save  life,  only  one  case  was  remem- 
bered of  regret  by  the  doctor  for  a  fatal  ending, — so 
sad  is  the  lot  of  those  who  survive.  This  instance 
will  explain  the  strange  statement.  A  call  came  to 
see  a  young  man  sent  home  from  prison  in  a  dying 
condition.  He  could  not  speak,  and  had  to  be  nour- 
ished for  days  by  artificial  feeding,  because  his  stom- 
ach could  not  retain  food.  Constant  and  skilful  care 
for  a  month  brought  him  back  to  life,  from  the  con- 
dition to  which  his  vile,  dark,  unventilated  cell  and 
scanty  food  had  brought  him.  As  soon  as  the  police 
learned  of  his  unexpected  recovery,  he  was  seized  and 
re-imprisoned,  though  an  only  son,  with  a  widowed 
mother  and  sister  dependent  upon  him.  When 
last  heard  of,  he  was  still  "  awaiting  trial,"  Such 
confinement  is  a  favorite  method  of  intimidation 
and  blackmail  in  the  case  of  the  innocent,  and,  in 
the  case  of  the  guilty,  amounts  to  punishment  with- 
out the  cost  and  labor  involved  in  proving  the  guilt 
and  securing  sentence  by  legal  process. 

From  my  own  house  in  Van  goods  of  considerable 
value  were  stolen  in  November,  1893.  Though  I 
had  good  clews  to  the  guilty  parties  and  would  have 
been  glad  to  recover  my  property,  I  felt  constrained 
to  use  every  precaution  not  to  let  the  affair  come  to 
the  ears  of  the  police,  lest  they  should  use  it  as  a 
pretext  for  searching  the  houses  of  many  innocent 
Armenians,  in  the  hope  of  finding  a  letter,  book,  or 
weapon  of  some  kind,  which  might  serve  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  imprisonment.     This  course  exposed  me  to 


66  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

further  attacks  of  thieves  and  necessitated  a  night 
watchman. 

WHY  ARE  THESE   FACTS   NOT  KNOWN  ? 

The  ignorance  and  increduHty  of  the  pubHc  is  a 
most  significant  commentary  on  the  situation.  But 
the  explanation  is  simple.  In  the  nature  of  the  case, 
in  reports  of  outrages  where  the  victims  or  their 
friends  are  still  within  the  clutches  of  the  Turks,  all 
names  of  individuals  and  often  the  exact  locality 
must  be  concealed.  Such  anonymous  accounts 
naturally  arouse  little  interest,  and,  of  course,  cannot 
be  verified.  The  former  British  Consul-General  at 
Erzerum,  Mr.  Clifford  Lloyd,  showed  me  at  that 
place  many  such  reports  sent  to  him  by  members  of 
Parliament  for  verification.  He  was  unable  to  verify 
them,  but  said  that  the  reports  gave  a  correct  im- 
pression of  the  condition  of  the  country.  At  that 
very  time,  October,  1890,  Mr.  Lloyd  called  atten- 
tion, in  an  official  dispatch,  published  in  the  "  Blue 
Books"   to  : 

"  I.  The  insecurity  of  the  lives  and  properties  of  the 
Armenians.  2.  The  insecurity  of  their  persons,  and 
the  absence  of  all  liberty  of  thought  and  action.  3. 
The  unequal  status  held  by  the  Christian  as  compared 
with  the  Mussulman  in  the  eyes  of  the  government." 

On  this  subject  there  are  five  channels  of  varying 
market  value.  First.  Consular  reports,  meagre 
and  often  inaccessible.  The  United  States  has  no 
consuls  in  Armenia,  and  consequently  no  "  ofificial" 
knowledge  of  its  condition.  European  consuls  are 
expected  to  report  nothing  that  they  are  not  abso- 


Condition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.     67 

lutely  sure  of,  and  are  given  to  understand,  both  by 
their  own  governments  and  by  that  of  Turkey,  that 
they  must  not  make  themselves  obnoxious  in  seeking 
information.  They  are,  at  best,  passive  until  their 
aid  is  sought,  and  then  alarm  the  suppliants  by  refus- 
ing to  touch  the  case  unless  allowed  to  use  names. 
Second.  Missionaries,  whose  mouths  are  sealed. 
They  would  be  the  best  informed  and  most  trust- 
worthy witnesses.  But  they  feel  it  their  first  duty  to 
safeguard  the  great  benevolent  and  educational  in- 
terests committed  to  them  by  not  exciting  the  sus- 
picion and  hostility  of  the  government.  Their 
position  is  a  delicate  one,  conditional  on  their  neu- 
trality, like  that  of  officers  of  the  Red  Cross  Society 
in  war.  Third.  Occasional  travellers,  whose  first 
impressions  are  also  often  their  last  and  whose  hasty 
jottings  are  likely  to  be  very  interesting  and  may  be 
very  misleading.  Not  so  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Isabella 
Bird  Bishop,  whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
there,  and  who  embodied  the  result  of  her  careful  in- 
vestigations in  an  article  entitled,  "  The  Shadow  of 
the  Kurd  "  in  TJie  Contemporary  Review}  Fourth. 
Much  evidence  from  Armenian  sources,  which  is 
often  unjustly  discredited  as  being  the  exaggeration, 
if  not  fabrication,  of  "  revolutionists  who  seek  a 
political  end."  Fifth.  Turkish  official  reports,  often 
obtained  by  corrupt  or  violent  means,  or  invented  to 
suit  the  circumstances.  Though  the  financial  credit 
of  the  Ottoman  Government  was  long  ago  exhausted, 
there  are  some  well  meaning  people  who  still  place 
confidence  in  Turkish  explanations  and  promises. 
'  The  Contemporary  Review^  May  and  June,  1891. 


68  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

WHAT   CAN   BE   DONE? 

The  scope  of  this  book  does  not  permit  a  discus- 
sion of  even  the  Armenian  phase  of  the  Eastern 
question,  beyond  a  bare  reference  to  its  possible 
three-fold  solution.  There  is,  first,  Russian  annexa- 
tion, a  step  for  which  the  sufferers  themselves  are 
praying,  and  which  Russia  is  prepared  to  execute  at 
a  moment's  notice.  If  this  were  the  only  alterna- 
tive from  present  conditions,  it  should  be  universally 
welcomed.  Russia  is  crude,  stupid,  and,  in  certain 
aspects,  brutal,  but  she  is  not  decrepit,  debauched, 
and  doting  like  official  Turkey.  The  diseases  of  the 
"  Sick  Man  "  are  incurable  and  increasing,  while  the 
bully  of  the  North  is  young,  of  good  blood,  and  with 
an  energy  suggestive  of  a  force  of  nature.  Russia 
shaves  half  the  head  of  seceders  from  the  Orthodox 
Church  and  transports  them.  Turkey,  with  more 
tact,  quietly  "  disposes "  of  converts  from  Islam, 
many  of  whom  would  step  forth  if  the  prospect  were 
less  than  death.  The  Jewish  question,  from  the 
Russian  standpoint,  is  largely  a  social  and  industrial 
one,  like  the  Chinese  question  in  the  United  States. 
When  the  writer  passed  from  Turkish  Armenia  into 
the  Caucasus,  it  was  from  a  desert  to  a  garden  ; 
from  danger  to  perfect  security  ;  from  want  and  sor- 
row to  plenty  and  cheer. 

Until  lately,  thousands  of  Turkish  Armenians  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  crossing  the  Russian  border  in 
spring,  earning  good  wages  during  the  summer,  and 
returning  to  spend  the  winter  with  their  families. 
This  has  opened  their  eyes  to  the  contrast  between 
the  two  lands  and  turned  their  hearts  to  Russia. 


Co7idition  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan.     69 

The  second  solution  is  Armenian  autonomy,  like 
that  of  Bulgaria,  the  fond  dream  of  those  who 
ignore  the  geographical  difficulties,  the  character, 
and  distribution  of  the  population,  and  the  temper 
of  Russia  and  other  powers  by  whom  it  would  have 
to  be  established  and  maintained. 

The  only  other  method  is  radical  and  vigorous  ad- 
ministrative reforms,  which  the  European  powers 
should  initiate,  and  report  to  Turkey,  instead  of  vice 
versa,  as  arranged  in  Article  LXI.  of  the  Berlin 
Treaty.  These  "  Christian  nations  "  have  for  six- 
teen years  violated  most  sacred  treaty  obligations, 
and  England  a  special  guarantee  for  such  reforms.. 
While  attended  with  difficulties,  this  is  the  most 
desirable  solution,  and  is  favored  by  the  great  mass 
of  Armenians  throughout  Turkey,  by  the  Anglo- 
Armenian  Association,'  founded  by  Prof.  James 
Bryce,  M.P.,  and  by  the  Phil-Armenic  Society  in  this 
country."  The  real  spirit  and  aim  of  the  Armenian 
race,  as  a  whole,  is  unfortunately  obscured,  in  the 
mind  of  the  public,  by  utterances  and  acts  of  a  few 
irresponsible  Armenian  hot-heads,  who  have  imbibed 
nihilistic  views  in  Europe,  and  are  trying,  in  a  very 
bungling  way,  to  apply  them. 

'  The  Case  for  the  Armenians.  London  :  Anglo-Armenian  Asso- 
ciation. 

^  An  Appeal  to  the  Christians  of  America  by  the  Christians  of  Ar- 
menia,    New  York  :  Phil-Armenic  Society. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

OTTOMAN  PROMISES  AND  THEIR  FUL- 
FILMENT. 

IMPERIAL  edicts  of  toleration,  and  promises  of 
reform  on  the  part  of  the  Sublime  Porte,  have 
been  very  numerous,  and  have  served  Turkey 
well  as  political  expedients.  Their  value  is  that  of 
so  much  dust  thrown  in  the  eyes  of  Europe  when 
her  aid  or  her  mercy  was  needful.  As  these  reforms 
have  all  been  promised  under  pressure,  they  have 
likewise  been  abandoned  just  so  fast  and  so  fa/ 
as  the  pressure  has  been  removed.  In  many  cases 
there  has  been  serious  retrogression.  The  sow  that 
is  washed  is  forever  returning  to  wallow  in  the  mire. 
It  is  as  true  of  the  "  Sick  Man  "  as  of  him  out  of 
whom  seven  devils  were  cast,  that  the  last  state  of 
that  man  is  v/orse  than  the  first.  This  is  emphat- 
ically so  in  regard  to  the  freedom  of  the  press,  the 
curtailment  of  religious  and  educational  privileges, 
and  the  safety  of  the  lives  and  property  of 
Christians. 

The  following  is  a  partia.  list  of  Turkish  promises 
which  have  been  broken  in  whole  or  in  part,  with 
the  circumstances  under  which  they  were  made. 

I.  In  1829,  by  the  Treaty  of  Adrianople  at  the 
close  of  a  war  with  Russia,  Turkey  promised  to  re- 


Ottoman  Promises  and  their  FulfilTnent.    71 

form  in  her  treatment  of  Orthodox  Christians,  and 
acknowledged  Russia's  right  to  interfere  in  their 
behalf.' 

2.  In  1839  Sultan  Abd-ul-Medjid,  in  order  to  en- 
list European  sympathy  and  aid — when  the  victori- 
ous Egyptian  army  under  Ibrahim  Pasha  was  threat- 
ening Constantinople — issued  an  Imperial  rescript, 
the  Hatti  Sherif,  in  which  he  promised  to  protect 
the  life,  honor,  and  property  of  all  his  subjects  irre- 
spective of  race  or  religion. 

3.  In  1844  the  same  Sultan  Abd-ul-Medjid  gave  a 
solemn  pledge  that  thenceforth  no  apostate  from 
Mohammedanism  who  had  formerly  been  a  Christian 
should  be  put  to  death.  This  pledge  was  extorted 
from  the  Sultan  by  the  Ambassador  of  Great  Britain, 
supported  by  those  of  other  Powers,  after  the  public 
execution  in  CoYistantinople  of  a  young  Armenian, 
Ovagim,  who  had  declared  himself  a  Mohammedan, 
but  who  afterwards  bravely  maintained  his  Christian 
profession  in  the  face  of  torture  and  death.  Since 
that  time  many  Moslems  even  .have  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, and  have  been  put  out  of  the  way,  quietly  in 
most  cases. 

4.  In  1850  the  same  Sultan,  on  the  demand  cT  the 
same  Powers,  in  view  of  the  continued  and  fierce  per- 
secution of  the  Protestant  subjects  of  the  Porte, 
granted  the  latter  a  charter,  guaranteeing  them  lib- 
erty of  conscience  and  all  the  rights  as  a  distinct 
civil  community,  which  had  been  enjoyed  by  the 
other  Christian  communities  of  the  empire.  But  to 
this  day  the  numerous  Protestants  of  Stamboul  have 

*  MorfiU's  Jiussia,  p.  287.     Putnam. 


72  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

never  been  allowed  to  erect  even  one  church,  although 
they  have  owned  a  site  and  had  the  necessary  funds, 
and  been  petitioning  for  a  firman  to  build  for  fifteen 
years.*  The  Greek  Protestants  of  Ordoo,  who  have 
a  church,  are  not  allowed  to  worship  in  it.  There 
are  many  other  flagrant  violations  of  this  charter. 

5.  In  1856,  after  the  Crimean  War,  Sultan  Abd-ul- 
Medjid,  to  anticipate  demands  which  he  knew  would 
be  included  in  the  Treaty  of  Paris  then  being  drawn 
up,  issued  the  Imperial  edict  known  as  the  Hatti 
Humayoun.  This  edict  not  only  promised  perfect 
equality  of  civil  rights  to  all  subjects  of  the  Porte, 
but  also  added :  "  As  all  forms  of  religion  are  and 
shall  be  freely  professed  in  my  dominions,  no  subject 
of  my  empire  shall  be  hindered  in  the  exercise  of  the 
religion  that  he  professes,  nor  shall  he  in  any  way  be 
annoyed  on  this  account."  But  as  the  interpretation 
and  enforcement  of  this  edict  has  remained  absolutely 
in  the  hands  of  the  Turkish  Government,  it  is  need- 
less to  add  that  it  has  been  a  dead  letter.' 

6.  In  1878  the  Anglo-Turkish  Convention,  entered 
into  just  before  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  included  these 

'  Rev.  H.  O.  Dwight,  The  Independent,  New  York,  January  /y,  1895. 
*  At  the  time  of  the  Crimean  War  Lord  Aberdeen  said  : 
"  Notwithstanding  the  favorable  opinion  entertained  by  many,  it 
is  difficult  to  believe  in  the  improvement  of  the  Turks.  It  is  true 
that,  under  the  pressure  of  the  moment,  benevolent  decrees  may  be 
issued  ;  but  these,  except  under  the  eye  of  some  Foreign  Minister, 
are  entirely  neglected.  Their  whole  system  is  radically  vicious  and 
inhuman.  I  do  not  refer  to  fables  which  may  be  invented  at  St. 
Petersburg  or  Vienna,  but  to  numerous  despatches  of  Lord  Stratford 
(de  Radcliffe)  himself,  and  of  our  own  consuls,  who  describe  a  fright- 
ful picture  of  lawless  oppression  and  cruelty."  (Sir  Theodore  Mar- 
tin's Life  of  the  Prince  Consort,  vol.  ii.,  p.  528.)  Quoted  by  Canon 
MacCoU,  The  Contetnporary  Review,  January,  1895. 


Ottoman  Promises  and  their  Fulfilment.    73 

words  in  its  First  Article :  "  His  Imperial  Majesty, 
the  Sultan,  promises  to  England  to  introduce  neces- 
sary reforms,  to  be  agreed  upon  later  between  the 
two  Powers,  into  the  government  and  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Christian  and  other  subjects  of  the  Porte 
in  these  territories  [Armenia]  ;  and  in  order  to  enable 
England  to  make  necessary  provision  for  executing 
her  engagement  [the  keeping  of  Russia  out  of  Ar- 
menia], His  Imperial  Majesty,  the  Sultan,  further  con- 
sents to  assign  the  Island  of  Cyprus  to  be  occupied  and 
administered  by  England."     Comment  unnecessary. 

7.  In  July,  1878,  by  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  religious 
liberty  and  the  public  exercise  of  all  forms  of  religion 
were  guaranteed  in  separate  articles  to  the  people 
of  Bulgaria,  Eastern  Roumelia,  Montenegro,  Servia, 
Roumania,  and  finally  to  all  subjects  of  the  Porte  in 
every  part  of  the  Ottoman  Empire.  Cases  of  glaring 
violation  of  the  principle  of  religious  liberty  may  be 
found  in  Appendix  C.  on  The  CensorsJiip  of  the  Press. 

The  Sixty-first  Article  of  the  same  treaty  reads 
thus:  "The  Sublime  Porte  undertakes  to  carry  out, 
without  further  delay,  the  improvements  and  re- 
forms demanded  by  local  requirements  in  the  prov- 
inces inhabited  by  the  Armenians,  and  to  guarantee 
their  security  against  the  Circassians  and  Kurds.  It 
will  periodically  make  known  the  steps  taken  to  this 
effect  to  the  Powers,  who  will  superintend  their  ap- 
phcation." 

What  the  condition  of  Turkey  was  three  years 
later,  not  simply  in  Armenia,  but  throughout  Asia 
Minor,  is  shown  by  a  report  of  Mr.  Wilson,  British 
Consul-General  in  Anatolia. 

"  There  has  probably  never  been  a  time  in  which 


74  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

the  prestige  of  the  Courts  has  fallen  so  low,  or  in 
which  the  administration  of  justice  has  been  so  venal 
and  corrupt.  The  most  open  and  shameless  bribery- 
is  practised  from  highest  to  lowest ;  prompt,  even- 
handed  justice  for  rich  and  poor  alike  is  unknown; 
sentence  is  given  in  favor  of  the  suitor  who  'places* 
his  money  most  judiciously ;  imprisonment  or  free- 
dom has  in  many  places  become  a  matter  of  bribery; 
robbers,  when  arrested,  are  protected  by  members  of 
the  Court,  who  share  their  spoil ;  a  simple  order  may 
send  an  innocent  man  to  prison  for  months ;  crime 
goes  unpunished,  and  all  manner  of  oppression  and 
injustice  is  committed  with  impunity.  The  Cadis,* 
especially  those  in  the  cazas,"  are,  as  a  rule,  ignorant 
men,  with  no  education,  knowing  little  of  law,  except 
the  Sheri,  on  which  they  base  their  decisions,  and 
sometimes  not  overmuch  of  that.  As  to  the  mem- 
bers, it  is  sufificlent  to  say  that  they  are  nearly  all 
equally  ignorant  of  law,  and  that  probably  not  twenty- 
five  per  cent,  of  them  can  write  Turkish,  or  read  the 
sentences  to  which  they  attach  their  seals.  In  the 
Commercial  Courts,  the  Presidents  are  frequently 
entirely  ignorant  of  the  duties  which  they  have  to 
perform.  The  low  pay  of  the  Cadis,  the  short  term 
— two  years — during  which  they  hold  their  appoint- 
ments, and  the  manner  in  which  they  obtain  them, 
render  the  receipt  of  bribes  almost  a  necessity.  The 
first  thought  of  a  Cadi  who  buys  an  appointment  in 
the  provinces  is  to  recoup  himself  for  his  outlay; 
the  second,  to  obtain  enough  money  to  purchase  a 
new  place  when  his  term  of  office  is  finished.  Even 
under  this  system  men  are  to  be  found  who  refuse 
*  Judge.  *  Local  districts. 


Ottoman  Promises  and  their  Fulfilment.    75 

to  receive  bribes  ;  and  there  are  others  who,  whilst 
giving  way  to  temptation,  deplore  the  necessity  to 
do  so."  ' 

The  sequel  to  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  is  found  in 
the  next  chapter. 

The  non-fulfilment  of  Ottoman  promises  in  regard 
to  Christian  subjects,  and  the  frequent  massacres  of 
the  latter  are  an  exact  fulfilment  of 

THE   OFFICIAL   PRAYER   OF   ISLAM 

which  is  used  throughout  Turkey,  and  daily  repeated 
in  the  Cairo  "Azhar"  University  by  ten  thousand 
Mohammedan  students  from  all  lands.  The  follow- 
ing translation  is  from  the  Arabic : 

"  I  seek  refuge  with  Allah  from  Satan,  [the  rejeen{\ 
the  accursed.  In  the  name  of  Allah  the  Compas- 
sionate, the  Merciful !  O  Lord  of  all  Creatures ! 
O  Allah  !  Destroy  the  infidels  and  polytheists,  thine 
enemies,  the  enemies  of  the  religion !  O  Allah ! 
Make  their  children  orphans,  and  defile  their 
abodes !  Cause  their  feet  to  slip  ;  give  them  and 
their  families,  their  households  and  their  women, 
their  children  and  their  relations  by  marriage,  their 
brothers  and  their  friends,  their  possessions  and 
their  race,  their  wealth  and  their  lands,  as  booty  to 
the  Moslems,  O  Lord  of  all  Creatures!"' 

All  who  do  not  accept  Mohammed  are  included 
among  "the  infidels"  referred  to  in  the  prayer. 

>  Report  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Blue-Book,  Turkey,  No.  8  (1881),  page 
57,  No.  48. 

*  The  Mohammedan  Missionary  Problem,  p.  31.  Jessup.  Phila- 
delphia, Presb.  Pub.  Soa 


CHAPTER  V. 
THE  OUTCOME  OF  THE  TREATY  OF  BERLIN. 

IT  is  quite  needless  to  remark  that  Turkey,  instead 
of  doing  anything  to  improve  the  condition  of 
the  Armenians,  has  done  much  to  make  it 
worse  during  the  past  fifteen  years.  The  question 
now  arises,  what  have  the  Powers  signatory  to  the 
Berlin  Treaty  done  to  compel  the  Sublime  Porte 
"to  carry  out  the  improvements  and  reforms" 
demanded  in  the  Sixty-first  Article  ?  And  what 
steps  has  Great  Britain  taken  in  addition,  to  dis- 
charge the  additional  obligation  for  the  improve- 
ment of  Armenia  which  she  assumed  by  the  so-called 
Cyprus  Convention  ? 

We  find  that  in  November,  1879,  ^^^^  English 
Government,  seeing  that  matters  throughout  Asia 
Minor  were  really  going  from  bad  to  worse,  went 
the  length  of  ordering  an  English  squadron  to  the 
Archipelago  for  the  purpose  of  a  naval  demonstra- 
tion. The  Turkish  Government  was  greatly  ex- 
cited, and  with  a  view  to  getting  the  order  counter- 
manded, made  the  fairest  promises. 

But  England  was  not  the  only  Power  aroused.  On 
June  II,  1880,  an  Identical  Note  of  the  Great 
Powers  demanded  the  execution  of  the  clauses  of 

76 


The  Outcome  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,     "jy 

the  Treaty  of  Berlin  which  had  remained  in  suspense. 
In  the  conclusion  of  the  Identical  Note  a  clear 
recognition  is  made  of  the  fact  that  the  interest  of 
Europe,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  requires 
the  execution  of  the  Sixty-first  Article  of  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  and  that  the  joint  and  incessant  action  of  the 
Powers  can  alone  bring  about  this  result. 

On  July  5th,  the  Turkish  Foreign  Minister  sent  a 
Note  in  reply  to  the  representatives  of  the  Powers. 
"  It  is  of  great  length  and  small  real  value,  except  as 
combining  in  a  remarkable  degree  the  distinguish- 
ing characteristics  of  modern  Ottoman  diplomacy, 
namely,  first,  great  facility  in  assimilating  the  ad- 
ministrative and  constitutional  jargon  of  civilized 
countries  ;  second,  consummate  cunning  in  conceal- 
ing under  deceptive  appearances  the  barbarous  reality 
of  deeds  and  intentions ;  third,  cool  audacity  in 
making  promises  which  there  is  neither  the  power 
nor  desire  to  make  good  ;  and,  finally,  a  paternal  and 
oily  tone,  intended  to  create  the  impression  that  the 
Turkish  Government  is  the  victim  of  unjust  preju- 
dices and  odious  calumnies." 

As  soon  as  the  reply  of  the  Porte  was  received, 
Earl  Granville  sent  copies  to  the  British  Consuls  in 
Asia  Minor,  inviting  observations  thereon.  Eight 
detailed  replies  to  this  request  are  published  in  the 
Blue-Book.'  They  concur  in  a  crushing  condemna- 
tion of  the  Ottoman  Government. 

These  conclusions,  moderately  and  very  diffusely 
expressed  in  diplomatic  phraseology,  are  reflected  in 

'  Blue-Book,  Turkey,  No.  6,  1881,  reports  of  Wilson,  Bennett, 
Chermside,  Trotter,  Stewart,  Clayton,  Everett,  and  Bilotti. 


78  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

the  Collective  Note  which  was  sent  on  Sept.  1 1,  1880, 
to  the  Sublime  Porte  by  the  Ambassadors  of  th^ 
Great  Powers.  On  October  3d,  without  making  the 
slightest  references  to  censures  which  had  been 
addressed  to  it,  and  even  appearing  completely  to 
ignore  the  Collective  Note,  the  Porte,  assuming  a 
haughty  tone,  merely  notified  the  Powers  of  what  it 
intended  to  do. 

In  a  Circular  of  the  12th  of  January,  1881,  Earl 
Granville  tried  again  to  induce  the  other  five  Powers 
to  join  in  further  representations  to  the  Sublime 
Porte  on  the  subject.  But  the  other  Powers  seem 
to  have  thought  that  the  diplomatic  comedy  had 
gone  far  enough,  and  sent  evasive  answers.  Prince 
Bismarck  expressed  the  opinion  that  there  would  be 
"serious  inconvenience"  in  raising  the  Armenian 
question,  and  France  hid  behind  Germany.  Such 
action  by  the  powers  had  been  anticipated  by  the 
British  Ambassador  at  Constantinople,  Mr.  Goschen, 
who  had  already  written  to  Earl  Granville :  "  If  they 
[the  Powers]  refuse,  or  give  only  lukewarm  support, 
the  responsibility  will  not  lie  with  Her  Majesty's 
Government."  The  whole  correspondence  was  sim- 
ply a  matter  of  form.'  I  have  condensed  this  outline 
of  events  since  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  from  Armenia, 
the  Armenians,  and  the  Treaties^  following  as  far  as 
possible  the  words  of  the  writer,  M.  G.  Rolin-Jae- 
quemyns,  a  high  authority  on  International  Law. 

From  1 88 1  to  the  present  time,  almost  with- 
out exception,  England,  on   her  part,   has   allowed 

1  Blue-Book,  Turkey,  l88i,  p.  242. 

'  Published  by  John  Heywood,  London,  1891,  pp.  82-89. 


The  Outcome  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.     79 

no  mention  in  her  Blue-Books  of  the  manner  in 
which  her prot^g^s  and  those  of  Europe  have  been 
treated.  Her  energies  have  seemed  to  be  devoted 
to  stifling  the  ever-increasing  cry  of  despair  from 
Armenia,  instead  of  attempting  her  rescue  or  rehef. 
The  other  Powers  are  only  less  guilty,  in  proportion 
as  they  have  done  less  to  perpetuate  Ottoman  mis- 
rule, and  have  made  less  pretence  of  sympathy  and 
help  for  the  oppressed.     Freeman  says  of  England, 

"  By  waging  a  war  on  behalf  of  the  Turk,  by  sign- 
ing a  treaty  which  left  the  nations  of  South-eastern 
Europe  [and  Asia  Minor]  at  the  mercy  of  the  Turk,  by 
propping  up  the  wicked  power  of  the  Turk  in  many 
ways,  we  have  done  a  great  wrong  to  the  nations 
which  are  under  his  yoke  ;  and  that  wrong  which  we 
have  ourselves  done  it  is  our  duty  to  undo."  ^ 

It  is  thus  clearly  seen  that  both  the  Sixty-first 
Article  of  the  Berlin  Treaty,  and  the  Cyprus  Con- 
vention as  well,  have  been  of  positively  no  value  in 
securing  for  the  Armenians  any  of  the  reforms  which 
were  therein  recognized  as  imperatively  called  for 
and  guaranteed.  It  is  also  clear  that  the  condition 
of  Armenia,  and  of  Turkey  as  a  whole,  is  even  vastly 
worse  and  more  hopeless  than  it  was  twenty  years  ago. 

This  condition,  I  further  maintain,  is  in  large 
measure  directly  attributable  to  those  treaties  them- 
selves and  to  the  attitude  subsequently  assumed  by 
the  Powers  which  signed  them.  It  is  said  that  the 
Armenians  have  brought  trouble  on  themselves,  by 
stirring  up  the  Turks.  I  ask  what  stirred  the  Ar- 
menians up  ?  It  was  primarily  the  Sixty-first  Article 
'  Freeman,  The  Turks  in  Europe, 


So 


The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 


of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.  Many  a  time  has  that 
precious  paragraph  been  quoted  to  me  in  the  wilds 
of   Kurdistan  by   common   Armenian  artisans  and 


PROFESSOR  MINAS  TCHERAZ. 

Present  at  the  Berlin  Congress. 


Ignorant  villagers.  They  had  welcomed  it  as  a 
second  evangel,  and  believed  the  word  of  England 
as  they  did  the  gospels.     It  was  that  Article  which 


The  Outcome  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.     8 1 

roused  them  from  the  torpor  of  centuries.  They  saw 
Bulgaria  rise  from  her  blood  and  shame  and  enter 
on  a  career  of  honor  and  prosperity  under  the  aegis 
of  European  protection.  Is  it  surprising  that  hopes 
and  aspirations  have  been  born  anew  in  the  heart  of 
the  Armenian  race — a  people  not  inferior  to  the 
Bulgarians  and  in  many  respects  more  talented  ? 

I  have  rarely  found  it  difficult  to  persuade  intelli- 
gent Armenians  that  an  autonomous  Armenia  is 
impracticable.  But  I  have  never  been  able  to  con- 
vince one  of  them  that  the  course  of  England  and 
the  other  powers  has  been  anything  but  one  of  sel- 
fishness, jealousy,  and  dishonor  as  far  as  fulfilment 
of  their  treaty  obligations  is  concerned. 

During  a  residence  of  four  years  in  Eastern  Tur- 
key I  noticed  a  marked  and  rapid  alienation  of  Arme- 
nian sentiment  from  England  in  favor  of  Russia,  who 
now  seems  to  them  the  only  source  of  succor.  They 
see  in  England  only  a  dog  in  the  manger. 

There  is  another  sequel  to  the  Berlin  Treaty  and 
to  the  attitude  of  the  powers,  namely,  its  effect  on 
the  Turks  themselves.  The  natural  enmity  and  con- 
tempt of  the  Moslem  rulers  and  population  gener- 
ally for  the  Christian  subjects  has  been  greatly 
increased  by  reason  of  the  pressure  which  foreign 
Powers  have  occasionally  brought  to  bear  on  the 
Turks  in  order  to  procure  relief  for  the  Christian. 
To  be  sure  the  only  hope  of  such  relief  is  from  with- 
out. But  the  pressure  should  not  be  of  a  petty, 
nagging  and  galling  nature.  This  is  worse  than 
nothing.    What  is  needed  is  prompt,  decisive,  and  final 

action. 
6 


82  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

And  things  have  now  arrived  at  such  a  pass  that 
in  such  action  Hes  the  only  hope  of  preventing  a  ter- 
rible catastrophe,  which  will  eclipse  even  the  massa- 
cres of  Sassoun.  The  wheels  of  progress  will  not  go 
backward  except  as  they  are  broken.  The  Chris- 
tians of  Armenia  can  be  exterminated,  but  it  is  too 
late  for  them  to  accept  slavery  or  Islam.  They  may 
be  slaughtered  like  sheep,  but  they  will  not  all  die 
like  dogs.  The  revolutionary  movement,  as  it  is 
called,  is  thus  far  nothing  but  a  blind  turning  of  the 
worm.  It  is  ill  considered,  without  resources,  reck- 
less, and  foreign  to  the  real  spirit,  objects,  and  meth- 
ods of  the  Armenians  on  Turkish  soil.  It  is  not 
denied  that  there  are  a  few  Armenians  in  Europe 
who,  in  despair  and  for  lack  of  better  teaching,  have 
imbibed  Nihilistic  views  and  are  trying,  in  a  very 
bungling  way,  to  apply  them.  They  are  hated  by  the 
vast  majority  of  Armenians  in  Turkey.  They  are 
related  to  the  question  at  issue  in  the  same  way  and 
degree  as  train  wreckers  and  box-car  burners  were  to 
the  industrial  problem  during  the  riots  of  Chicago 
in  July  last,  and  deserve  the  same  treatment.  The 
Turks  take  great  pains  to  thrust  them  into  public 
notice,  as  a  cloak  for  themselves,  and  with  good  suc- 
cess. The  Turkish  Government  and  its  partisans,  in 
order  to  conceal  the  real  character  of  the  massacre 
in  Sassoun, have  made  persistent,  extensive,  and  dis- 
honorable use  of  a  letter  by  the  first  President  of 
Robert  College,  Constantinople,  Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin, 
written  December  23,  1894.  Dr.  Hamlin's  vigorous 
and  indignant  protest  may  be  found  in  Appendix  C. 

The  idea  of  Armenian  revolution  is  a  new  thing 


The  Outcome  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.     %'^ 


in  the  history  of  that  peaceable  race,  which  has 
quietly  submitted  for  centuries  to  the  yoke  of  the 
Turk.  But  it  is  the  natural  outcome  of  the  horrible 
situation  in  Armenia  since  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  and 
the  disease  is  bound 
to  grow  more  viru- 
lent and  contagious 
until  the  European 
doctors  apply  vigor- 
ous and  radical  treat- 
ment to  the  "  Sick 
Man."  It  is  difficult 
to  see  how  anything 
but  a  surgical  opera- 
tion can  be  helpful. 
The  knife  has  fre- 
quently been  used  in 
the  case  of  this  incur- 
able patient  during 
the  present  century, 
and  always  with  ex- 
cellent results,  as  for 
instance  in  the  case 
of  Greece,  Lebanon, 
Bulgaria,  Boznia- 
Herzegovina,  and 
Egypt. 

A  situation  in  many 
respects  parallel  to    that  in    Armenia   existed  until 
lately   in    Bosnia   and    Herzegovina.     How  quickly 
and    completely    that    difficult    problem    has    been 
solved,  is  narrated  by  M.  de  Blowitz  in  the  October, 


ZEIBEK,    TURKISH   SOLDIER, 
"IRREGULAR." 


84  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

1894,  issue  of   TJie  Nineteenth  Century,  from  which 
I  condense  in  his  own  words. 

"  The  orders,  given  after  the  taking  over  of  the 
country,  to  surrender  all  arms  or  to  destroy  them,  was 
given  a  sweeping  application.  Yet,  before  the  victo- 
rious entry  of  the  Austro-Hungarians,  each  Bosnian 
each  Herzegovinian,  was  a  walking  arsenal. 

"  To-day  weapons  and  ambuscades  are  things  of 
the  romantic  past.  Twelve  years  have  sufficed,  un- 
der M.  de  Kallay's  administration,  not  only  to  re- 
move all  traces  of  the  wild,  inhospitable,  inaccessible 
Bosnia  of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  but  indeed 
and  especially  to  banish  even  the  memory  of  those 
dark  days  of  strenuous  battle,  and  to  wipe  away 
from  the  hearts  of  both  invader  and  invaded  all 
traces  of  the  hate  which  then  animated  them.  In 
the  year  1882,  the  superior  administration  of  the  two 
provinces  (Bosnia  and  Herzegovina)  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  Minister  of  Finance  of  the  Austro- 
Hungarian  Empire,  who  was  then,  and  who  is  still, 
M.  de  Kallay.  From  this  moment  all  is  changed. 
The  powers  given  to  the  new  administration  are 
almost  unlimited.  The  civil  element  has  been  sub- 
stituted for  the  military  element,  and  pacification  has 
succeeded  conquest.  The  greatest  effort  is  made  to 
reassure  all  minds.  Not  a  single  minaret  has  disap- 
peared, not  a  muezzin  is  deprived  of  his  resources." 

A  recent  writer  wisely  says  that  "  the  Armenian 
question,  if  it  ever  be  settled  at  all,  must  be  taken 
out  of  the  Turk's  hands,  whether  he  like  it  or  not. 
.  .  .  And  we  have  an  opportunity  now,  which 
may  never  come  our  way  again,  of  settling  a  diffi- 


The  Outcovte  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin.     85 


culty  which,  if  allowed  to  develop  much  longer, 
will  prove  more  fruitful  of  mischief  than  any  with 
which  we  have  been  confronted  for  a  generation  or 
more." ' 

C.  B.  Norman,  special  corre- 
spondent of  Tlie  London  Times, 
in  his  Ari7ienia  and  the  Cam- 
paign of  iSyj"^  wrote  words 
which  are  even  truer  to-day. 
I  condense: 

"  Naturally,  since  I  have  been 
here  I  have  had  many,  very 
many,  opportunities  of  convers- 
ing with  Turkish  officers  and 
men  on  the  so-called  Eastern 
Question  ;  and  the  consequence 
is  that,  arriving  in  the  country 
a  strong  philo-Turk,  deeply 
impressed  with  the  necessity  of 
preserving  the  '  integrity  of  the 
Empire  *    in    order   to    uphold 

*  British  interests,'  I  now  fain 
would  cry  with  Mr.  Freeman  : 

*  Perish,  British  interests,  perish 
our  dominion  in  India,  rather 
than  that  we  should  strike  a  blow 
on  behalf  of  the  wrong  against  the  right ! ' ' 

"  There  is  no  finer  Vace  in  the  world  than  the  Turk 


TURKISH  SOLDIER, 
"  REGULAR." 


'  "  Diplomatist,"  "  The  Armenian  Question  "  in  The  New  Revirw, 
January,  1895. 

*  Pp.  158-g.     London  :  Cassell,  Petter,  &  Galpin. 

*  Speech  iu  St.  James's  Hall,  December,  1876. 


86  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

proper.  Brave,  honest,  industrious,  truthful,  frugal, 
kind-hearted,  and  hospitable,  all  who  know  the 
Osmanli  speak  well  of  him.  He  is  as  much  oppressed 
by  the  curse  of  misgovernment  as  his  Christian  fellow- 
subject  ;  and  had  the  members  of  the  Eastern  Ques- 
tion Association  as  keen  a  sense  of  justice  as  they 
have  love  of  writing,  they  would  long  ago  have  oblit- 
erated the  word  '  Christian  '  from  their  lengthy  docu- 
ments, and  striven  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the 
lower  orders  of  the  subjects  of  the  Porte,  down- 
trodden as  they  are  by  an  effete  section  of  the 
Mohammedan  race,  who  have  degenerated  in  mind, 
body,  and  estate,  since  coming  in  contact  with 
Western  civilization. 

"  I  do  not  for  one  moment  mean  to  deny  that  there 
are  honest,  energetic  Turks,  capable  of  exercising 
their  talents  for  their  country's  good  ;  but  these  men 
are  powerless.  The  vital  powers  of  the  nation  are 
so  sapped  by  centuries  of  misrule,  the  minds  of  the 
majority  are  so  imbued  with  the  belief  that  all  ideas 
not  born  of  Moslem  brains  and  sanctified  by  Moslem 
usage  are  false,  and  to  be  scorned,  that  were  any 
honest-minded  gentleman  to  rise  to  power,  and  en- 
deavor to  check  the  present  system  of  misgovern- 
ment, he  would  not  remain  in  office  one  week. 
Captain  Gambler's  able  article  on  the  '  Life  of 
Midhat  Pasha'  '  bears  me  out  in  this  idea." 

'  The  Nineteenth  Century,  January,  1878. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  SULTAN  AND  THE  SUBLIME  PORTE. 

CHURCH  and  State  are  one  and  inseparable  in 
Turkey,  The  Sultan  of  the  empire  is  also 
Calif  of  the  Mohammedan  religious  world. 
He  cannot  abdicate  either  office,  if  he  would,  without 
vacating  the  other  by  the  same  act.  In  fact,  herein 
lies  the  secret  of  the  present  Sultan's  policy,  which 
seems  suicidal  on  general  principles  of  government. 
He  has,  on  the  one  hand,  been  lavish  in  the  building 
and  repairing  of  mosques,  and  in  establishing  Moslem 
schools  throughout  his  dominions.  On  the  other 
hand,  he  has  infringed  and  ignored  the  ancient  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  Christian  Patriarchates  which 
were  guaranteed  by  Mohammed  1 1.,  and  have  hitherto 
been  regarded  as  sacred.  He  has  blocked  the  erec- 
tion of  new  Christian  schools  and  churches,  and  even 
the  repairing  of  such  as  are  falling  into  decay. 
There  were  formerly  thousands  of  non-Moslems  in 
civil  positions,  faithfully  serving  the  government ; 
under  the  new  regime,  however,  they  have  been 
systematically  removed  and  excluded.  And  why 
has  all  this  been  done?  Because  the  Sultan  is  a 
good  conscientious  Mohammedan,  it  is  only  fair  to 
believe.     Even  if  he  were  not  a  sincere  believer,  he 

87 


88  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

would  still  feel  compelled  to  adopt  the  same  course, 
as  a  matter  of  internal  political  necessity.  The 
Moslem  population  look  to  him  as  the  Defender  of 
the  Faith,  girded  with  the  sword  of  the  Prophet. 
He  feels  it  imperative  at  all  hazards  to  regain  lost 
prestige  over  his  fanatical  subjects,  especially  in  the 
south,  where  rumblings  of  discontent  and  disloyalty 
are  ominous. ' 

Let  us  be  reasonable  and  practical.  Why  longer 
exact  or  accept  from  the  Sultan  promises  which  he 
cannot  make  without  doing  violence  to  his  own 
conscience  and  to  his  office,  and  which  he  cannot 
execute  without  imperilling  his  throne  ?  You  might 
as  well  ask  the  Pope  to  abandon  the  doctrines  of 
temporal  sovereignty  and  of  infallibility,  which  to 
him  are  fundamental.  If  the  situation  in  Turkey  de- 
mands that  anything  be  done,  and  if  the  rest  of 
humanity  and  civilization  have  any  responsibility  in 
the  matter,  let  practical  statesmen  proceed  to  busi- 
ness.    All  hope  of  reform  from  within  depends  on 

'  From  a  descendant  of  Dahir  Billah,  the  thirty-fifth  caliph  of 
Bagdad,  Sultan  Selim  I.  "procured  the  cession  of  his  claims,  and  ob- 
tained the  right  to  deem  himself  the  shadow  of  God  upon  earth. 
Since  then  the  Ottoman  padishah  has  been  held  to  inherit  the  rights 
of  Omar  and  Haroun,  and  to  be  the  legitimate  commander  of  the 
faithful,  and,  as  such,  possessed  of  plenary  temporal  and  spiritual 
authority  over  the  followers  of  Mohammed." '  The  Persians  and 
Moors,  however,  reject  this  claim,  and  at  the  close  of  the  Russian  War 
not  a  few  of  the  Arab  muftis  declared  that  the  caliphate  had  been  for- 
feited by  the  inglorious  defeat  of  the  Turks,  and  should  now  return 
to  the  Arab  family  of  Koreish. 

*  Freeman,  The  Saracens,  p.  158.  Quoted  by  Jessup,  The  Mo- 
hammedan Missionary  Problem^  Pi  21,  Philadelphia  :  Presbyterian 
Board  of  Publication,  1879. 


The  Sultan  and  the  Sublime  Porte.       89 

the  distrustful,  distracted,  hoodwinked  Sultan,  who 
is  clearly,  in  the  circumstances,  a  helpless  and  pitiable 
object.  But  he  should  no  more  be  allowed  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  the  emancipation  of  Turkey,  than  the 
Pope  was  allowed  to  impede  the  making  of  Italy. 
"  The  Prisoner  of  the  Vatican  "  has  still  abundant 
scope  for  his  great  and  beneficent  spiritual  projects ; 
and  the  Captive  at  Yildiz  Palace — for  such  he  has  for 
years  constituted  himself — may  also  be  allowed  a 
sphere  in  which  his  personal  virtues  and  ability  shall 
shine  forth,  unobscured  by  the  clouds  and  darkness 
that  surround  him  now.  He  certainly  would  be  bet- 
ter off,  and  his  subjects  also — Moslem  no  less  than 
Christian. 

The  shrieks  of  ten  thousand  slaughtered  Arme- 
nians pierce  for  the  moment  above  the  groans  of 
others.  But  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that  all  the 
races  in  Turkey  are  under  the  same  curse,  and  that 
the  present  is  a  chance  to  help  them  as  well  as  the 
Armenians. 

According  to  the  Koran,  which  is  the  basis  and 
ultimate  authority  of  Mohammedan  law — Code 
Napoleon,  treaty  stipulations,  and  Imperial  Iradh 
notwithstanding, — the  whole  non-Moslem  population 
of  Turkey  are  outlaws.  The  millions  of  ancient, 
hereditary  inhabitants,  whether  Greek,  Armenian, 
Nestorian,  Jacobite,  Jew,  or  Syrian,  are  considered 
aliens.  Their  legal  status  is  that  of  prisoners  of  war, 
with  corresponding  rights  and  responsibilities.'  Not 
one  of  them  is  expected  or  even  allowed  to  serve  in 
the  army.  Non-Moslems,  whose  services  are  indis- 
'  Hughes,  Notes  on  Muhammadaniitn,  pp,  209,  210. 


90  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

pensable  to  the  government,  are,  in  rare  cases,  put  in 
civil  offices,  especially  financial,  for  which  no  Moham- 
medan of  sufficient  integrity  or  ability  can  be  found. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  above  is  true  in 
theory,  and  it  is  equally  true  that  the  theory  is  car- 
ried out  so  far  as  fear  of  intervention  by  Christian 
nations  permits. 

But  in  this  hour,  when  our  hearts  are  stirred  by  the 
lot  of  our  co-religionists  underthe  Crescent,  let  us  not 
forget  that  the  Moslem  population  almost  equally  is 
cursed  and  impoverished  by  Turkish  misrule,  venal- 
ity, and  taxation.  They  drink  the  cup  of  woe,  all 
but  the  more  bitter  dregs  of  religious  persecution, 
which  is  reserved  for  Christian  lips.  Their  be- 
numbed condition,  natural  stolidity,  and  unquestion- 
ing obedience  to  Islam,  a  creed  whose  cardinal  prin- 
ciple is  submission,'  accounts  for  the  fact  that  they 
do  not  appear  as  a  factor  of  the  problem.  Yet  even 
Mohammedans  often  secretly  come  pleading  that 
Europe  take  some  interest  in  their  case  too.  In  the 
name  of  humanity,  yes,  of  Christianity,  let  them  not 
be  forgotten. 

"An  Eastern  Resident,"  writing  from  Constantino- 
ple, in  an  article  entitled  "  Sultan  Abd-ul-Hamid," 
in  The  Contemporary  Review,  January,  1895,  gives  an 
able  analysis  of  the  Sultan's  position  and  policy, 
showing  at  the  same  time  great  appreciation  of  His 
Majesty  as  a  man.  His  position  and  relations  to  the 
Sublime  Porte  are  not  well  understood  by  the  pub- 
lic, and  could  hardly  be  better  stated  than  in  these 
extracts : 

*  Hughes,  Notes  on  Muhammadanism,  p,  10, 


The  Sullan  and  the  Sublime  Porte.       91 

"  So  far  as  we  can  judge,  the  Sultan  is  a  sincere 
and  honest  Mohammedan,  and  regards  himself  as  a 


H.   I.    M.    ABD-UL-HAMID   KHAN,    THE    SULTAN   OF  TURKEY. 


true  Caliph — a  successor  of  the  Prophet — the  chief 
defender  of  the  faith,  under  God  the  absolute  arbi- 
ter of  its  destinies.     He  has  undoubtedly  done  his 


92  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

best  to  reconcile  the  interests  of  the  Caliphate  with 
those  of  the  Empire.     .     .     . 

"  In  one  particular  it  [the  policy  of  the  Sultan]  is 
condemned  by  most  enlightened  Mohammedans  as 
strongly  as  by  Christians.  His  attempt  to  concen- 
trate the  whole  administration  of  the  Empire  in  his 
own  hands  has  led  to  the  establishment  'of  a  dual 
government — that  of  tlje  Palace  and  the  Porte.  The 
whole  machinery  of  a  government  exists  at  the  Porte. 
There  are  Ministers  and  fully  organized  departments. 
There  is  a  Council  of  Ministers  and  a  Council  of 
State.  All  business  is  supposed  to  pass  through 
their  hands,  and  the  whole  administration  is  sup- 
posed to  be  subordinate  to  them.  All  is,  of  course, 
subject  to  the  supreme  will  of  the  Sultan,  but  his 
official  advisers  and  his  official  agents  are  at  the 
Porte. 

"  In  fact,  however,  there  is  another  government  at 
the  Palace  of  Yildiz,  more  powerful  than  the  official 
government,  made  up  of  chamberlains,  mollahs, 
eunuchs,  astrologers,  and  nondescripts,  and  supported 
by  the  secret  police,  which  spares  no  one  from  the 
Grand  Vizier  down.  The  general  policy  of  the  Empire 
is  determined  by  this  government,  and  the  most  im- 
portant questions  of  state  are  often  treated  and 
decided,  while  the  highest  officials  of  the  Porte  are 
left  in  absolute  ignorance  of  what  is  going  on.  It  is 
needless  to  add  that  the  Porte  and  the  Palace  are  at 
sword's-point,  and  block  each  other's  movements  as 
far  as  they  can.     .     .     . 

"  The  Sultan  evidently  believes  that  he  is  equally 
independent  of  both  these  governments,  and  decides 


The  Sultan  and  the  Sublime  Porte.       93 

all  questions,  great  and  small,  for  himself.  In  form 
he  does  so,  but  no  man  can  act  independently  of  all 
his  sources  of  information,  and  of  the  personal  influ- 
ence of  his  entourage.  Under  the  present  system  he 
makes  himself  responsible  for  every  blunder  and 
every  iniquity  committed  in  the  Empire,  but  he  has 
disgraced  three  distinguished  Grand  Viziers  for  tell- 
ing him  so,  and  seems  to  have  no  idea  of  the  causes 
of  the  intense  dissatisfaction  with  his  government 
which  prevails  among  his  Mohammedan  subjects. 
The  Turks,  as  well  as  the  Christians,  also  condemn 
the  laws  restricting  personal  freedom,  which  have 
increased  in  severity  every  year.  In  many  ways 
these  laws  are  more  galling  to  the  Turks  than  the 
Christians.     .     .     . 

"  There  is  another  evil  connected  with  this  system 
which  may  lead  to  serious  difficulties  with  foreign 
Powers.  All  foreign  relations  are  supposed  to  be 
managed  through  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  or 
the  Grand  Vizier,  but  these  officials  have  no  power 
and  but  little  influence.  They  can  promise  nothing 
and  do  nothing.  But  in  all  delicate  diplomatic  ques- 
tions it  is  essential  to  treat  with  responsible  agents, 
and  to  discuss  them  with  such  agents  in  a  way  in 
which  it  is  impossible  to  treat  with  the  Sovereign 
himself.  The  present  system  has  been  a  serious  injury 
to  Turkey.  It  has  roused  the  hostility  of  all  the 
Embassies  and  led  them  to  feel  and  report  to  their 
governments,  that  there  is  no  use  in  trying  to  do  any- 
thing to  save  this  Empire  ;  that  it  is  hopelessly  cor- 
rupt, and  the  sooner  it  comes  to  an  end  the  better 
for  the  world.     There  is  no  longer  any  concerted 


94  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

action  of  Europe  at  Constantinople  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  condition  of  the  people.     .     .     . 

"  If  Sultan  Abd-ul-Hamid  would  come  out  of  his 
palace,  restore  to  the  Porte  its  full  responsibility, 
disband  its  secret  police,  trust  his  Mohammedan  sub- 
jects, and  do  simple  justice  to  the  Christians,  his  life 
would  be  far  more  secure  than  it  is  to-day,  with  all 
precautions ;  his  people  and  all  the  world  would 
recognize  the  great  and  noble  qualities  which  they 
now  ignore,  and  welcome  him  as  the  wisest  and  best 
of  all  the  Sultans.     .     .     . 

"  The  sad  pity  of  it  is  that  he  will  never  do  it.  It 
is  too  late.  The  influence  of  the  Palace  favorites  is 
too  strong.  He  will  appear  in  history  not  as  the 
Sultan  who  saved  the  Empire,  but  as  the  one  who 
might  have  saved  it  and  did  not" 


CHAPTER  VII. 
PREVIOUS  ACTS  OF  THE  TURKISH  TRAGEDY. 

IN  this  chapter '  I  shall  take  no  account  of  events 
that  have  taken  place  in  legitimate  warfare, 
where  the  slain  were  foreign  enemies  or  rebel- 
lious subjects  of  the  Sultan,  resisting  with  arms  in 
their  hands  after  being  ordered  to  submit.  The"  in- 
surgents " — as  the  Porte  has  called  them — in  all  these 
cases  have  consisted  of  men,  women,  children,  and 
infants,  and  in  each  case,  by  a  curious  coincidence, 
have  been  non-Mohammedan. 

In  all  of  these  massacres,  Turkish  military  or  civil 
ofificers  presided  and  directed  the  bloody  work,  as  will 
be  seen  by  reference  to  the  authorities  mentioned. 
There  have  been  many  other  massacres  of  less  than 
ten  thousand  during  the  intervals,  which,  to  use  the 
language  of  Beder  Khan  in  Mosul  (see  Layard's 
Nineveh),  have  confirmed  the  whole  Turkish  princi- 
ple, that  "  the  Armenians  were  becoming  too  numer- 
ous, and  needed  diminishing." 

'  Parts  of  this  chapter  are  taken  from  an  article,  "  Notes  on  the 
Armenian  Massacre,"  in  The  Independent,  New  York,  January  31, 
1895,  by  a  high  authority,  who  is  compelled  to  sign  himself  "A 
Student  of  Modem  History." 

95 


^6  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

This  item    of    Turkey's    account,    for    the   past 
seventy-five  years  only,  stands  about  as  follows : 


DEFENSELESS  CHRISTIAN  SUBJECTS  MASSACRED  IN 
TURKEY  1820  TO  1896. 

T822.  Greeks,  especially  in   Scio  (Chios)     .  50,000' 
1850.  Nestorians     and     Armenians,     Kur- 
distan       10,000' 

i860.  Maronites  and  Syrians,  Lebanon  and 

Damascus 11,000* 

1876.  Bulgarians,  Bulgaria  .         .         *  10,000* 

1 894-1 895.  Armenians,  Asiatic  Turkey       .  40,000' 

Total 121,000 

The  above  figures  indicate  the  extent  of  the 
massacres  mentioned.  The  following  extracts  reveal 
the  occasion  and  manner  in  which  they  were  carried 
out. 

The  first  extract  is  in  regard  to  the  Greeks,  and  is 
a  translation,  by  Mr.  Robert  Stein,  from  the  French: 

"  The  blow  had  been  long  premeditated.  Sultan 
Mahmoud  was  in  the  habit  of  replying  to  every  suc- 
cess of  the  Greek  insurgents  by  ordering  massacres, 

'  Latham,  Russian  and  Turk,  p.  417.  London  ;  W.  H.  Allen, 
1878. 

'  Layard's  Nineveh. 

'Colonel  Churchill,  Druses  and  Maronites^  p.  219.  London: 
Quaritch,  1862. 

*  Eugene  Schuyler  and  Correspondent  MacGahan,  quoted  in  The 
Independent,  January  10,  1895. 

'  Chapter  I.  of  this  book. 


Previous  Acts  of  the  Turkish  Tragedy.     97 

violations,  and  enslavement  in  regions  without  de- 
fense, where  there  were  none  but  women,  children, 
and  inoffensive  merchants.  After  the  first  exploit  of 
Kanaris,  the  quiet  commercial  town  of  Cydonia  had 
promptly  been  burnt.  The  Turkish  admiral  was 
beaten  at  Samos ;  for  that  reason  thirty  days  were 
spent  in  Cyprus  in  cutting  off  heads.  The  town  of 
Tripolitza,  in  the  Morea,  having  been  taken  by  the 
Palikares,  the  inhabitants  of  Cassandra,  in  Thrace, 
were  given  up  to  bands  of  Arnauts.  The  Sultan 
wished  to  take  new  reprisals  to  terrify  the  rayas 
[Christian  subjects],  and  to  cause  the  nations  of 
Europe  to  reflect.  He  took  care  not  to  fix  his  choice 
on  Crete,  where  his  nizains  would  have  been  received 
with  gunshots.  Chios  was  an  easy  prey,  and  sus- 
pected nothing,  having  always  lived  on  good  terms 
with  the  Porte,  and  having  even  refused  to  take  part 
in  the  insurrection  of  Hellas  and  the  islands.  The 
Chiotes  had  always  been  the  gentlest,  the  most 
docile,  the  most  timid  of  all  the  rayas.  The  secret 
societies  which  endeavored  to  rouse  the  Greek  people 
had  not  even  deigned  to  initiate  these  islanders  in 
their  projects  of  national  resurrection.  On  the  8th  of 
May,  182 1,  the  intrepid  Tombasis,  with  fifteen  brigs 
from  Hydra  and  ten  schooners  from  Psara,  had  ap- 
peared before  the  island,  and  his  patriotic  advances 
having  been  ill  received,  he  had  retired.  The  in- 
habitants of  Chios,  in  order  to  give  new  guaranties 
of  submission,  had  sent  to  the  Turks  large  amounts 
of  money,  numerous  hostages,  and  all  their  arms: 
even  the  little  knives  with  which  they  cut  their  bread 
had  been  taken  from  them. 
7 


98  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

"At  this  moment,  on  Easter  Day,  1822,  the  Capi- 
tan-Pasha  anchored  in  the  harbor,  with  seven  ships 
and  eight  frigates.  Inasmuch  as  many  of  the  people, 
frightened  by  the  sight  of  this  fleet,  had  fled  to  the 
mountains,  they  were  made  to  come  down  by  promises 
of  safety,  and  by  sending  to  them  some  consuls,  who 
were  simple  enough  to  lend  themselves  in  good  faith 
to  this  ignoble  fraud.  The  Turkish  admiral  brought 
his  executioners  with  him  ;  basJii-bazouks  from 
Rumelia,  Zeibeks  and  Yuruks  from  Asia  Minor,  the 
most  ferocious  and  cowardly  to  be  found  in  the 
empire.  The  adventurers  had  come  in  great  num- 
bers, eager  for  their  prey,  attracted  by  this  country, 
so  rich  in  harvests,  in  gold  coins,  and  in  women.  On 
the  day  fixed  for  this  surprise  all  this  rabble  was 
crowded  into  boats,  with  pistols  and  knives,  and  the 
carnage  began.  Whole  regiments  courageously  be- 
sieged villages  containing  three  hundred  souls.  For 
many  of  them,  this  slaughter  was  a  great  joke,  a 
gigantic  bakshish.  They  slashed  and  burned  all  day ; 
in  the  evening  they  reckoned  up  the  price  of  the 
slaves,  the  sheep,  the  goats,  all  huddled  together 
pell-mell  in  the  profaned  churches.  The  children  and 
the  women  escaped  death  ;  their  youth  and  beauty 
saved  them  from  the  massacre,  to  deliver  them  over 
at  once  to  outrageous  assaults  or  to  reserve  them  for 
the  shameful  fate  of  the  harem.  They  were  led  off 
in  long  troops  ;  they  were  put  on  the  market  and  sold 
in  the  bazaars  of  Smyrna,  Constantinople,  and  Brussa. 
Whatever  resisted  was  killed  without  mercy.  At 
Mesta,  a  young  girl  cried  and  struggled  against  an 
Arnaut ;   the    madman    seized    her  loosened    hair, 


Previous  Acts  of  the  Turkish  Tragedy.     99 

turned  back  the  collar,  and  with  a  cut  of  his  sabre 
severed  the  pretty  head.  The  person  who  described 
this  scene  to  me  saw  it  with  his  own  eyes."  ' 

In  regard  to  the  massacre  of  Nestorians  in  1850, 
Layard  states  that  after  9000  had  been  massacred, 
"  1000  men,  women,  and  children  concealed  them- 
selves in  a  mountain  fastness.  Beder  Khan  Beg,  an 
ofificer  of  rank  in  the  employment  of  the  Sultan,  un- 
able to  get  at  them,  surrounded  the  place,  and 
waited  until  they  should  be  compelled  to  yield  by 
thirst  and  hunger.  Then  he  offered  to  spare  their 
lives  on  the  surrender  of  their  arms  and  property, 
terms  ratified  by  an  oath  on  the  Koran.  The  Kurds 
were  then  admitted  to  the  platform.  After  they 
had  disarmed  their  prisoners  they  commenced  an  in- 
discriminate slaughter,  until,  weary  of  using  their 
weapons,  they  hurled  the  few  survivors  from  the 
rocks  into  the  river  Zab  below.  Out  of  nearly  looa 
only  one  escaped."  * 

In  regard  to  the  massacre  of  Maronites  and  Syri- 
ans in  i860,  the  anonymous  authority  in  T lie  Inde- 
pendent goes  on  to  say : 

"After  the  massacre  of  June  and  July,  i860,  in 
Lebanon  and  Damascus,  under  the  direction  of 
Tahir  Pasha  in  Deir  el  Komr,  Osman  Beg  in  Has- 
beiya,  Kurshid  Pasha  in  Lebanon,  and  Ahmed  Pasha 
in  Damascus,  a  conference  was  held  in  Paris,  August 
3d,  by  the  representatives  of  Great  Britain,  Austria, 
France,    Prussia,   Russia,  and    Turkey.      As    11,000 

*  M.  Gaston  Deschamps :  "En  Turquie — LI'le  de  Chio,"  Revue 
des  Deux  Mondes,  p.   167,  January  i,  1893. 
'  Layard's  Nineveh^  pp.  24-201. 
7 


TOO  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

Christians  had  been  massacred,  the  European  rep- 
resentatives called  the  attention  of  the  Sultan  to  his 
promise  in  the  Treaty  of  Paris,  March  ^q,  1856, 
'that  serious  administrative  measures  should  be 
taken  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  the  Christian 
population  of  every  sect  in  the  Ottoman  Empire.' 
.  .  .  And  then,  in  the  presence  and  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  five  aforesaid  Christian  representatives, 
assembled  together  for  the  express  purpose  of  taking 
measures  to  stop  the  effusion  of  Christian  blood  in 
Syria,  caused  by  the  wicked  and  wilful  collusion  >f 
the  Sultan's  authorities,  the  following  insult  to  tue 
common  sense,  the  feelings,  and  judgment  of  Chris- 
tian Europe  was  deliberately  penned  :  '  The  Pleni- 
potentiary of  the  Sublime  Porte  takes  note  of  this 
declaration  of  the  representatives  of  the  high  con- 
tracting Powers,  and  undertakes  to  transmit  it  to  his 
court,  pointing  out  tJiat  the  Sublime  Porte  has  em- 
ploy cdy  and  continues  to  employ,  her  efforts  in  the  sense 
of  the  wish  expressed  above  I '  "  (Churchill,  pp.  220, 
221.) 

Colonel  Churchill  further  says  (p.  222) : 
"  Nejib  Pasha,  who  was  installed  Governor  of  the 
Pashalick  of  Damascus  on  the  restoration  of  Syria  to 
the  Sultan  in  1840,  declared  to  a  confidential  agent 
of  the  British  Consul  in  that  city,  not  knowing,  how- 
ever, the  character  of  the  person  he  was  addressing, 
'the  Turkish  Government  can  only  maintain  its 
supremacy  in  Syria  by  cutting  down  the  Christian 
sects.'  What  Nejib  Pasha  enounced  as  a  theory, 
Kurshid  Pasha,  after  an  interval  of  twenty  years, 
succeeded  in  carrying  into  practice," 


Previous  Acts  of  the  Turkish  Tragedy.    loi 

The  writer  in  The  Independent  adds  : 

"  Thus  we  have  Nejib  Pasha  in  1840,  Beder  Khan 
in  1850,  Kurshid  Pasha  in  i860,  Chefket  Pasha  in 
1876,  and  Zekki  Pasha  in  1894,  concurring  in  this 
noble  and  philanthropic  scheme  for  relieving  the 
Turkish  Empire  of  its  surplus  Christian  population  !  " 

The  following  facts  relate  to  the  terrible  atrocities 
perpetrated  in  Bulgaria  by  Turkish  bashi-bazoiiks  in 
the  spring  of  1876.  I  quote  verbatim  from  the  pre- 
liminary report '  of  the  Hon.  Eugene  Schuyler,  Amer- 
ican Consul-General,  to  the  Hon.  Horace  Maynard, 
the  American  Minister,  at  Constantinople  : 

"  Philippopolis,  August  10,  1876. 

"  Sir: — In  reference  to  the  atrocities  and  massacres 
committed  by  the  Turks  in  Bulgaria,  I  have  the 
honor  to  inform  you  that  I  have,  visited  the  towns 
of  Adrianople,  Philippopolis,  and  Tatar-Bazardjik, 
and  villages  in  the  surrounding  districts.  From 
what  I  have  personally  seen,  and  from  the  inquiries 
I  have  made,  and  the  information  I  have  received,  I 
have  ascertained  the  following  facts  :     .     .     . 

"  The  insurgent  villages  made  little  or  no  resist- 
ance. In  many  instances  they  surrendered  their 
arms  upon  the  first  demand.  Nearly  all  the  villages 
which  were  attacked  by  the  basJii-bazouks  -were 
burned  and  pillaged,  as  were  also  all  those  which 
had  been  abandoned  by  the  terrified  inhabitants. 
The  inhabitants  of  some  villages  were  massacred 
after  exhibitions  of  the  most  ferocious  cruelty,  and 
the  violation  not  only  of  women  and  girls,  but  even 
of  persons  of  the  other  sex.  These  crimes  were 
'  Article  by  Mr,  Savage,  The  Independent^  January  10,  1 894. 


I02  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

committed  by  the  regular  troops  as  well  as  by  the 
bashi-bazoiiks  [irregulars].  The  number  of  villages 
which  were  burned  in  whole  or  in  part  in  the  districts 
of  Philippopolis,  Roptchus,  and  Tatar-Bazardjik  is  at 
least  sixty-five. 

"  Particular  attention  was  given  by  the  troops  to 
the  churches  and  schools,  which  in  some  cases  were 
destroyed  with  petroleum  and  gunpowder. 

"  It  is  dif^cult  to  estimate  the  number  of  Bul- 
garians who  were  killed  during  the  few  days  that 
the  disturbances  lasted  ;  but  I  am  inclined  to  put 
15,000  as  the  lowest  for  the  districts  I  have  named. 
.  .  .  This  village  surrendered,  without  firing  a 
shot,  after  a  promise  of  safety,  to  the  bashi-baaouks, 
under  command  of  Ahmed  Aga,  a  chief  of  the  rural 
police.  Despite  his  promise,  the  arms  once  sur- 
rendered, Ahmed  Aga  ordered  the  destruction  of 
the  village  and  the  indiscriminate  slaughter  of  the 
inhabitants,  about  a  hundred  young  girls  being  re-* 
served  to  satisfy  the  lust  of  the  conqueror  before 
they  too  should  be  killed.  Not  a  house  is  now 
standing  in  this  lovely  valley.  Of  the  8000  inhabi- 
tants not  2000  are  known  to  survive. 

"Ahmed  Aga,  who  commanded  the  massacre,  has 
since  been  decorated  and  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
yuz  basJii  [centurian]. 

"These  atrocities  were  clearly  unnecessary  for  the 
suppression  of  the  insurrection,  for  it  was  an  insig- 
nificant rebellion  at  the  best,  and  the  villagers  gen- 
erally surrendered  at  the  first  summons. 
"  I  am,  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

"  Eugene  Schuyler. 

"The  Hon.  Horace  Maynard,  etc." 


Previous  Acts  of  the  Turkish  Tragedy.    103 

"  The  British  Government  had  glossed  over  and 
tried  to  cover  up  these  horrible  transactions,  Premier 
Disraeli  turning  them  off  with  a  sneer.  The  facts,  as 
unearthed  by  Consul  Schuyler,  shook  the  British 
nation  like  an  earthquake,  and  came  near  unseating 
the  Ministry.     .     .     . 

"  A  similar  investigation  was  made  in  the  same  dis- 
trict by  Mr.  J.  A.  MacGahan,  the  brilliant  correspond- 
ent of  the  London  Daily  News,  who  confirms  all 
that  Mr.  Schuyler  discovered,  in  a  special  despatch 
to  the  Daily  News,  dated  Philippopolis,  July  28, 
1876.". 

The  circumstances  and  character  of  the  Armenian 
massacre  of  1894  are  found  in  the  first  chapter  of  the 
present  volume.  In  regard  to  this  event  the  writer 
in  The  Independent  of  January  17th  above  quoted 
asks : 

"  Will  history  repeat  itself  in  1895  ?  Will  the 
remaining  Armenians  of  Sassoun  be  so  terrorized  as 
to  refuse  to  testify  before  a  Commission  ?  Un- 
doubtedly. 

"  If  the  facts  already  known  do  not  force  Europe  to 
place  Eastern  Asia  Minor  under  a  Christian  Viceroy 
there  is  little  hope  that  any  new  facts  will  influence 
them.  The  dead  tell  no  tales.  The  living  fear  to 
speak,  lest  they  fall  victims  to  the  humane  theories 
of  Beder  Khan  and  Nejib  Pasha. 

"  Will  England  now  insist  upon  the  protection  of 
the  Christian  ?  She  is  morally  bound  to.  Four 
times  has  she  saved  the  Ottoman  Empire  from  de- 
struction, and  the  civilized  world  looks  to  her  for  a 
Culfilment  of  her  high  mission  in  the  East. 


I04  The  Crisis  in  Turkey 

"  May  British  public  opinion  compel  British  public 
men  to  action  !  " 

To  make  this  chapter  a  little  more  complete  for 
reference,  I  add  a  passing  allusion  to  three  other 
outrages  not  included  in  the  above  list,  which  takes 
account  of  no  massacres  of  less  than  ten  thousand 
victims  at  once. 

OUTRAGES    IN    CRETE    IN    1866-7. 

On  July  21,  1867,  the  British,  Russian,  French,  and 
Italian  Consuls  at  Canea,  Crete,  sent  the  following 
identical  telegram  to  their  several  governments : 
**  Massacres  of  women  and  children  have  broken  out 
in  the  interior  of  the  island.  The  authorities  can 
neither  put  down  the  insurrection  nor  stay  the 
course  of  these  atrocities.  Humanity  would  impera- 
tively demand  the  immediate  suspension  of  hostili- 
ties, or  the  transportation  to  Greece  of  the  women 
and  children." 

The  number  of  relieving  ships  sent  to  Crete  in 
obedience  to  this  accord  was  four  French,  three 
Russian,  two  Italian,  three  Austrian,  and  one  Prus- 
sian.* 

OUTRAGES   IN    ARMENIA    IN    1877. 

The  writer  is  C.  B.  Norman,  special  correspondent 
of  The  London  Times,  who  says  in  his  preface  : 

"  In  my  correspondence  to  the  Times  I  made  it 
a  rule  to  report  nothing  but  what  came  under 
my  own  personal  observation,  or  facts  confirmed  by 
European  evidence. 

•  U,  S.  Consul  Stillman's  The  Cretan  Insurrection  of  1866-7-8. 
Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  i874. 


Previous  Acts  of  the  Turkish  Tragedy,    105 

"  A  complete  list  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  obtain, 
but  from  all  sides — from  Turk  and  Armenian  alike — 


A  HIGHWAY  IN  ARMENIA. 

I  hear  piteous  tales  of  the  desolation  that  reigns 
throughout  Kurdistan  —  villages  deserted,  towns 
abandoned,  trade  at  a  standstill,  harvest  ready  for 
the  sickle,  but  none  to  gather  it  in,  husbands  mourn- 
ing their  dishonored  wives,  parents  their  murdered 
children  ;  and  this  is  not  the  work  of  a  power  whose 
policy  of  selfish  aggression  no  man  can  defend,  but 
the  ghastly  acts  of  Turkey's  irregular  soldiery  on 
Turkey's  most  peaceable  inhabitants, — acts  the  per- 
petrators of  which  are  well  known,  and  yet  are 
allowed  to  go  unpunished.     .     .     . 

"  A  bare  recital  of  the  horrors  committed  by  these 
demons  is  sufficient  to  call  for  their  condign  punish- 


io6  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

ment.  The  subject  is  too  painful  to  need  any  color- 
ing, were  my  feeble  pen  enabled  to  give  it." 

A  few,  out  of  many  cases  reported  by  Mr.  Norman 
are  given  : 

"  This  gang  also  attacked  the  village  of  Kordjotz, 
violating  the  women,  and  sending  off  all  the  virgins 
to  their  hills ;  entering  the  church  they  burned  the 
Bible  and  sacred  pictures ;  placing  the  communion- 
cup  on  the  altar,  they  in  turn  defiled  it,  and  divided 
the  church  plate  amongst  themselves.     .     .     . 

"  Sheik  Obaidulah's  men  rivalled  their  comrades 
under  the  flag  of  Jelaludeen  ;  these  latter  operated 
between  Van  and  Faik  Pasha's  camp.  They  at- 
tacked and  robbed  the  villages  of  Shakbabgi  and 
Adnagantz,  carrying  off  all  boys  and  virgins.  At 
Kushartz  they  did  the  same,  and  killing  500  sheep, 
left  them  to  rot  in  the  streets,  and  then  fired  the 
place.  Khosp,  Jarashin,  and  Asdvadsadsan,  Bog- 
hatz,  and  Aregh  suffered  in  like  manner ;  the 
churches  were  despoiled  and  desecrated,  graves  dug 
up,  young  of  both  sexes  carried  off,  what  grain  they 
could  not  transport  was  destroyed,  and  the  inhabi- 
tants driven  naked  into  the  fields,  to  gaze  with  horror 
on  their  burning  homesteads.'" 

THE   MASSACRE    OF    THE    YEZIDIS   NEAR   MOSUL,    1892. 

"  The  Yezidis  are  a  remnant  of  a  heathen  sect,  who 
have  never  been  converted  to  the  Moslem  faith. 
"  Their  holy  place  is  not  far  from  the  city  of  Mo- 

'  C.  B.  Norman,  Armenia  and  the  Campaign  of  i8jy,  pp.  293- 
298.     London;  Cassell.  Fetter,  &  Galpin,  1879, 


Previous  Acts  of  the  Turkish  Tragedy,    107 

sul,  one  day's  journey,  and  their  principal  villages 
are  also  close  by.  In  the  summer  of  1892  the  Sultan 
sent  a  special  officer,  called  Ferik  Pasha,  to  Mosul  to 
correct  certain  abuses  in  the  government,  to  collect 
all  back  taxes,  and  to  convert  the  Yezidis.  His 
authority  was  absolute,  the  Vali  Pasha  of  the  city 
being  subject  to  his  orders, 

"  In  reference  to  his  work  among  the  Yezidis,  he,  it 
was  generally  reported,  was  to  get  a  certain  sum  per 
capita  for  every  convert  made. 

"  He  first  sent  priests  among  them  to  convert  them 
to  the  "  true  faith."  They  not  succeeding,  he  very 
soon  gave  them  the  old  alternative  of  the  Koran  or 
the  sword.  Still  not  submitting,  he  sent  his  soldiers, 
under  command  of  his  son,  who  put  to  the  sword  all 
who,  not  able  to  escape,  refused  to  accept  Moham- 
med. Their  villages  were  burned,  many  were 
killed  in  cold  blood,  some  were  tortured,  women 
and  young  girls  were  outraged  or  carried  off  to 
harems,  and  other  atrocities,  too  horrible  to  relate, 
were  perpetrated. 

"  Those  who  escaped  made  their  way  to  the  moun- 
tains of  Sinjar,  where,  together  with  their  brethren 
of  the  mountains,  they  intrenched  themselves  and 
successfully  defended  themselves  until  the  spring  of 
1893  against  the  government  troops  which  had  been 
sent  against  them. 

"  This  massacre  was  reported  to  the  French  Gov- 
ernment by  M.  Siouffi,  Consul  at  that  time  in  Mosul, 
and  to  the  English  Government  by  Mr.  Parry,  who 
was  in  that  region  under  the  instructions  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 


io8  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

"  The  Yezidis  who  remained  in  their  villages  on 
the  plain  had  Moslem  priests  set  over  them  to  in- 
struct them  in  the  Moslem  faith.  They  were  com- 
pelled to  attend  prayers  and  nominally  become 
Mohammedans  ;  but  in  secret  they  practised  tiieir 
own  rites  and  declared  that  they  were  still  Yezidis."  ' 

After  the  massacre  of  the  Yezidi  peasants  in  1892 
an  English  lady  of  rank,  visiting  Mosul,  was  refused 
permission  by  the  Pasha  to  travel  through  the 
Yezidi  district,  lest  she  witness  the  dreadful  results 
of  the  massacre." 

The  writer  in  TJie  Independent  of  January  31st, 
gives  this  explanation : 

"  The  reason  of  the  recurrence  of  massacres  i.i 
Turkey  is  the  fanatical  intolerance  of  the  Moslem 
populace  and  their  hatred  to  Christianity,  unre- 
strained and  often  fomented  by  Turkish  officials. 

"  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  the  ablest  and  best 
friend  Turkey  ever  had,  who  believed  that  '  England 
should  befriend  Turkey  in  order  to  reform  her,' 
says : ' 

" '  Turkey  is  weak,  fanatical,  and  misgoverned. 
The  Eastern  question  is  a  fact,  a  reality  of  indefinite 
duration.  Like  a  volcano  it  has  intervals  of  rest ; 
but  its  outbreaks  are  frequent,  their  occasions  un- 
certain, and  their  effects  destructive  '  (p.  6). 

"'Did  not  the  massacres  in  Syria  in  i860  come 
upon  us  by  surprise?  .  .  .  Have  we  any  substantial 
security  against  the  recurrence  of  similar  horrors,  of 
a  similar  necessity,  and  of  a  similar  hazard?'  (p.  79). 

*  The  Independent,  January  17,  1895. 

•  lind,^  January  31, 1895.  '  The  Eastern  Question. 


Previous  Acts  of  the  Turkish  Tragedy.    109 

"  *  The  position  of  the  Ottoman  Empire  is  one  of 
natural  determination  toward  a  state  of  exhaustive 
weakness  '  (p.  97). 

" '  111  fares  the  country  where  neither  strong  hand 
nor  willing  heart  is  to  be  found  '  (p.  104). 

"  A  joint  Commission  is  now  en  route  to  investigate 
the  Sassoun  massacres.  Will  any  good  come  from  it  ? 
Doubtful.     Lord  Stratford  says  (p.  117)  : 

"  *  We  know  not  how  soon  or  where  the  kites  may 
be  again  collected  by  a  massacre  or  insurrection. 
Such  occasional  meetings  [of  Commis- 
sions] have  their  portion  of  inconvenience  and  risk. 
Their  failure  is  discreditable ;  the  effect  of  their  suc- 
cess, at  best,  transient  and  partial.  The  evils  they 
are  meant  to  correct  are  themselves  the  offspring  of 
one  pervading  evil,  the  source  of  which  is  in  Con- 
stantinople.* " 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
ISLAM  AS  A  FACTOR  OF  THE  PROBLEM. 

IT  is  with  reluctance  that  I  approach  this  side  of 
the  question.  It  is  not  desirable  that  the  sub- 
ject be  complicated  or  embittered  by  religious 
animosities.  But  unfortunately  these  animosities  do 
exist  and  have  always  formed  a  primary  and  essential 
feature  in  all  the  relations  of  the  Turks  with  their 
Christian  subjects.  A  writer  who  styles  himself 
"  Diplomatist,"  in  a  recent  review  article  of  consider- 
able merit,'  with  a  stroke  of  the  pen,  disposes  of  this 
phase  of  the  subject  by  characterizing  it  as  "  pure 
moonshine."  But  real  diplomatists  do  not  find  it  so 
easy  to  dispose  of,  nor  do  the  great  historians  treat 
it  as  moonshine.  The  fanatical  gleam  that  I  have 
often  caught  in  the  eye  of  Turks  and  Kurds  was 
never  suggestive  to  me  of  the  mild  rays  of  the  lunar 
orb,  but  seemed  rather  like  a  gleam  from  -the  political 
Crescent,  whose  baleful  influence  dominates  the  East. 
The  question  is  not  concerning  the  merits  of 
Mohammed  or  of  Mohammedanism  in  the  abstract. 
I  have  a  profound  respect  for  the  Prophet  of  Arabia, 
who  might  have  been  another  Apostle  Paul,  but  for 
the  fact  that  the  corrupt  church  of  that  day  failed 

*  New  Review  for  January,  1895. 
ZIO 


Islam  as  a  Factor  of  the  Problem,      1 1 1 

to  give  that  young  and  ardent  seeker  after  God  a  true 
and  worthy  conception  of  Christianity.  I  would  fain 
admit  the  high  conception  of  the  Mohammedan  ideal, 
portrayed  so  skilfully  by  Mr.  R.  Bosworth  Smith  in 
his  lectures  before  the  Royal  Institution  of  Great 
Britain. 

But  such  considerations  are  irrelevant  to  the  present 
discussion,  which  is  simply.  What  are  the  practical 
bearings  of  Islam  upon  the  question  of  reform  or  of 
reconstruction  in  Turkey? 

As  has  been  already  shown  in  Chapter  VI.,  the 
Ottoman  Government  is  a  politico-religions  system. 
This  is  the  necessary  constitution  of  any  Moham- 
medan sovereign  state,  but  the  conception  ha? 
special  force  and  vitality  in  Turkey,  whose  Sovereign 
claims  to  be  the  successor  of  Mohammed,  and  thus 
the  Calif  of  the  Mohammedan  world.  The  whole 
fabr'*:;  of  the  Turkish  Empire  rests  on  a  religious 
foundation.  This  religious  foundation  is  not  the 
general  religious  principle  in  man,  but  the  particular 
form  of  religion  established  by  Mohammed. 

To  what  extent,  now,  does  Islam  enter  into  the 
political  structure.'*  We  find  on  investigation  that 
it  is  part  and  parcel  of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the 
organism  in  Turkey  called  the  State, — called  so  by 
courtesy  on  account  of  its  faint  analogy  to  what  is 
understood  in  other  countries  by  that  name.  The 
Turkish  army  is  exclusively  a  Mohammedan  army, 
the  national  festivals  are  Mohammedan  festivals,  the 
official  calendar  is  a  Mohammedan  calendar,  both  as 
to  year  and  month,  the  laws  are  based  on  the  Koran 
and  Mohammedan  tradition,  the  expounders  of  the 


112  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

law  are  Mohammedan  judges,  and  even  testimony  is 
a  religious  act  of  which  only  true  believers  are,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case,  capable.  It  is  not  denied  that 
the  testimony  of  Christians  is  allowed  to  be  given 
in  Turkish  courts,  but  that  does  not  signify  that  it  is 
valid  evidence  in  the  eyes  of  the  Court,  especially 
when  a  Mohammedan  is  involved.  Even  the  differ- 
ent formulae  used  show  this.  In  the  case  of  a 
Mohammedan  it  is,  "  His  Lordship,  So  and  So,  testi- 
fied to  the  face  of  God  ";  in  the  case  of  a  Christian 
it  is,  "  Mr.  Blank  stated." 

In  Article  63  of  the  Treaty  of  Berlin  we  read 
Turkey's  solemn  (it  is  hard  to  suppress  a  smile) 
promise  to  the  European  Powers  in  regard  to  the 
rights  of  Christians  before  the  law :  "yi//  shall  be 
allowed  to  give  evidenee  before  the  courts  without  dis- 
tinctions of  creedy  The  practical  application  of  the 
above  clause  is  shown  in  the  official  reports  of 
British  Consuls.' 

Mr.  Wilson,  Consul-General  in  Anatolia,  writes : 
"  In  the  greater  portion  of  Anatolia,  though  Chris- 
tian evidence  may  be  received,  no  weight  is  attached 
to  it.  When  Moslem  and  Christian  evidence  are  op- 
posed to  each  other,  the  latter  is  disregarded.  For 
instance,  three  Christians  are  travelling  along  a  road, 
and  one  of  them  is  robbed  by  a  man  well  known  to 
all  of  them ;  in  the  action  which  ensues,  the  robber 
has  only  to  prove  an  alibi  by  two  Moslem  false  wit- 
nesses to  gain  his  case." 

'  These  extracts  are  from  Blue-Book,  Turkey,  No.  8  (1881),  pp.  57- 
iio,  as  quoted  by  the  high  authority,  M.  Rolin-Jaequemyns,  in  his 
Armenia,  the  Armenians,  and  the  Treaties,  pp.  74-76.  London : 
John  Heywood,  1891 


Islam  as  a  Factor  of  the  Problem.      113 

Mr.  Chermside,  Vice-Consul  at  Sivas,  writes: 

"As  regards  the  acceptance  of  Christian  testimony, 
theoretically  is  it  accepted  in  all  Nizam  courts. 
Hearing  testimony,  however,  and  attaching  the  rela- 
tive importance  to  it  that,  from  its  tenor  and  con- 
sistency, it  is  entitled"  to,  are  very  different  matters ; 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that,  especially  in  civil  cases, 
tradition,  sympathy,  and  education  prejudice  the 
Hakirn^  against  it — sentimental  considerations,  how- 
ever, are  not  proof  against  the  love  of  gain." 

According  to  the  latter  part  of  this  quotation,  the 
spirit  which  animates  the  courts  of  Asia  Minor  may 
be  defined  as  fanaticism  tempered  by  corruption. 
The  following  is  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Everett,  Vice- 
Consul  at  Erzerum  :  "  The  first  consideration  of  the 
administrators  of  justice  is  the  amount  of  money 
that  can  be  extorted  from  an  individual,  and  the  sec- 
ond is  his  creed."  The  only  doubt  as  to  the  morality 
of  the  Turkish  magistrates  appears  to  be  whether 
they  are  more  corrupt  than  fanatical,  or  more  fanati- 
cal than  corrupt. 

The  injustice  done  to  Christians  even  in  commer- 
cial transactions  is  shown  by  Mr.  Bilotti,  Consul  at 
Trebizond : 

"  Christian  evidence  is  accepted  in  the  town  of 
Trebizond,  but  I  am  assured  in  the  districts,  that 
though  the  same  principle  is  admitted,  no  Mussul- 
man has  ever  been  condemned  on  the  testimony  of 
Christians ;  so   much   so,  that  the  latter  are   in   the 

'  The  Hakim,  who  is  a  member  of  the  religious  body  of  Ulemas, 
presides  over  the  lower  court  (Bidayet),  which  is  to  be  found  in  every 
caza  (hundred),  and  also  over  the  Sandjak  or  district  court. 


114  "-^^^  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

habit  of  having  their  bonds  witnessed  only  by 
Mussuhnans." 

Much  is  said  in  regard  to  the  truthfuhiess  of  the 
Turks.  Consul-General  Wilson  writes  :  "  From  the 
peculiar  value  of  Moslem  evidence,  most  of  the  false 
witnesses  are  Turks." 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  we  thus  see  that  the  millions 
of  Christians  in  Turkey  neither  are  nor  can  be  con- 
sidered and  treated  as  citizens  of  the  state,  simply 
because  they  do  not  belong  to  the  religion  of  the 
foreign  invaders  who  rule  them.  No  degree  of 
loyalty  can  secure  for  non-Moslems  admission  to  the 
army.  Christians  are  rapidly  being  excluded  from 
even  the  humblest  positions  in  the  civil  lists  also, 
except  from  such  as  Mohammedans  are  incompetent 
to  fill.  The  status  of  the  Christian  before  the  law  is 
that  of  an  alien  in  regard  to  his  own  rights,  and  of  a 
slave  as  far  as  the  interests  of  Mohammedans  are 
concerned. 

And  yet  we  are  told  that  the  Ottoman  Turks  are 
tolerant  of  the  members  of  other  faiths.  This  is  true 
in  the  same  sense  that  the  stomach  is  spoken  of  as 
being  "  tolerant  "  of  certain  easily  digestible  articles 
of  food.  Yes,  so  long  as  Christians  submit  to  all 
forms  of  oppression,  and  make  no  claims  in  regard 
to  rights  which  are  generally  supposed  to  belong  to 
all  men,  they  are  gladly  tolerated. 

That  the  discrimination  against  Christian  subjects 
is  due  to  their  religious  belief,  is,  further,  clearly 
shown  by  the  fact  that  Mohammedans,  who  abandon 
the  creed  of  the  government,  immediately  forfeit 
their  special  privileges,  and  even  incur  punishment 


Islam  as  a  Factor  of  the  Problem.      115 

as  criminals.  Apostacy  from  Islam  is  treason  to  the 
Sultan.  Converts  to  Christianity  are  arrested  and 
imprisoned.  In  the  rare  instances  when  foreign  gov- 
ernments venture  to  inquire  into  such  cases,  the 
Ottoman  authorities  blandly  insist  that  they  care 
nothing  for  the  man's  religion,  but  that  he  must  be 
arrested  for  "avoiding  conscription,"  or  on  some 
other  fictitious  charge.  He  is,  thereupon,  hurried  off 
to  some  distant  military  post,  or  finds  a  living  grave 
in  an  unknown  dungeon. 

Such  is  the  politico-religious  organization  called 
the  Ottoman  Government.  Can  this  union  of  Church 
and  State  be  dissolved?  It  can  not  be.  The  bond 
which  unites  them,  according  to  Mohammedan  doc- 
tors, is  vital,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Siamese  twins. 

Inasmuch  as  the  bond  cannot  be  cut,  the  only  re- 
maining hope  must  be  in  improving  the  health  of 
the  two  bodies  thus  indissolubly  united.  Unfortu- 
nately, no  change  can  be  hoped  for  in  the  case  of 
either  part  of  this  dual  patient.  MoJiammedanisin  at 
its  birth  was  a  malformation,  to  say  the  least,  and 
will  continue  so  even  though  restored  to  a  state  of 
perfect  health.  In  the  opinion  of  every  orthodox 
Mohammedan,  the  Koran  is  a  "  perfect  revelation  of 
the  will  of  God,  sufficient  and  final,"  and  "  Islam 
is  a  separate  distinct,  and  absolutely  exclusive 
religion." 

As  attempts  are  frequently  made  to  convey  a  con- 
trary impression  on  this  point,  I  quote  the  words  of 
President  George  Washburn,  of  Robert  College, 
Constantinople,  an  impartial  student  of  Islam,  who 
for  thirty.fivc  years  has  observed  its  practical  work- 


Ii6  TJie  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

ings  in  the  Ottoman  Empire.  At  the  World's  Par- 
liament of  Religions,  in  Chicago,  1893,  he  read  a 
paper  on  "  The  Points  of  Contact  and  Contrast 
between  Christianity  and  Mohammedanism."  His 
whole  treatment  is  remarkable  for  its  judicial  fair- 
ness, and  his  paper  is  commended  to  the  reader 
who  may  desire  a  brief,  comprehensive,  and  fair 
estimate  of  Islam. 

To  the  question  whether  Mohammedanism  has 
been  in  any  way  modified,  since  the  time  of  the 
Prophet,  by  its  contact  with  Christianity,  Dr.  Wash- 
burn thinks  that  every  orthodox  Moslem  would 
answer  in  the  negative.  lie  adds  :  "  It  is  very  im- 
portant to  bear  in  mind  that  there  are  nominal 
Mohammedans  who  are  theists,  and  others  who  are 
pantheists  of  the  Spinoza  type.  There  are  also 
some  small  sects  who  arc  rationalists,  but  after  the 
fashion  of  old  English  Deism  rather  than  of  the 
modern  rationalism.  The  Deistic  rationalism  is 
represented  in  that  most  interesting  work  of  Justice 
Ameer  Ali,  The  Spirit  of  Islam.  He  speaks  of  Mo- 
hammed as  Xenophon  did  of  Socrates,  and  he 
reveres  Christ  also,  but  he  denies  that  there  was 
anything  supernatural  in  the  inspiration  or  lives  of 
either,  and  claims  that  Hanife  and  the  other  Imams 
corrupted  Islam,  as  he  thinks  Paul  the  apostle  did 
Christianity ;  but  this  book  does  not  represent  Mo- 
hammedanism, any  more  than  Renan's  Life  of  Jesus 
represents  Christianity.  These  small  rationalistic 
sects  are  looked  upon  by  all  orthodox  Moslems  as 
heretics  of  the  worst  description." 

Although  the  Scriptures   of  the    Old   and    New 


Islam  as  a  Factor  of  the  Problem.      1 1 7 

Testaments  happen  to  be  mentioned  one  hundred 
and  thirty-one  times  in  the  Koran,  they  are  only 
quoted  twice.  The  fundamental  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity, such  as  the  Incarnation,  the  Trinity,  the 
Atonement,  and  the  Resurrection  of  Christ  are 
specifically  repudiated  in  the  Koran. 

The  reform  of  Islam  as  a  system  is,  therefore,  not 
within  the  range  of  possibility.  How  about  the 
reform  of  the  Ottoman  Government?  On  this  point 
I  yield  the  floor  to  the  great  historian  E.  A.  Free- 
man, who  will  close  the  debate ' : 

"  There  are  some  people  who  say  the  Turks  are 
no  doubt  very  bad,  but  that  the  Christians  are  just 
as  bad,  and  have  done  things  just  as  cruel.  Now,  as 
a  matter  of  fact,  this  is  not  true  ;  and,  if  it  were  true, 
it  would  be  another  reason  for  setting  the  Christians 
free ;  for  if  they  are  as  bad  as  the  Turk,  it  is  the 
Turk  who  has  caused  their  badness.  While  other 
nations  have  been  improving,  the  Turk  has  kept 
them  from  improving.  Take  away  the  Turk  who 
hinders  improvement,  and  they  will  improve*  like  the 
others.  The  slave  never  has  the  virtues  of  a  free- 
man ;  it  is  only  by  setting  him  free  that  he  can  get 
them. 

"  When  we  point  out  the  evils  of  the  rule  of  the 
Turk,  some  people  tell  us  that  Christian  rulers  in 
past  times  have  done  things  quite  as  bad  as  the 
Turks.  This  is  partly  true,  but  not  wholly.  No 
Christian  government  has  ever  gone  on  for  so  long  a 
time  ruling  as  badly  as  the  Turk  has  ruled.  But  it 
is  true  that  Christian  governments  have  in  past  times 
*   The  Turks  in  Europe. 


1 1 8  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

done  particular  acts,  which  were  as  bad  as  the  acts 
of  the  Turks.  But  this  argument,  too,  cuts  the 
other  way  ;  for  Christian  governments  have  left  off 
doing  such  acts,  while  the  Turks  go  on  doing  them 
still.  The  worst  Christian  government  is  better  now 
than  it  was  one  hundred  years  ago,  or  five  hundred 
years  ago.  The  rule  of  the  Turk  is  worse  now  than 
it  was  one  hundred  years  ago,  or  five  hundred  years 
ago.  That  is  to  say,  the  worst  Christian  government 
can  reform,  while  the  Turk  cannot. 

"  It  is  sometimes  said  that  we  ought  not  to  set 
free  the  Christians  for  fear  that  they  should  do  some 
harm  to  the  Mohammedans  who  would  be  left  in 
their  land.  Now,  if  the  question  were  really  put. 
Shall  a  minority  of  oppressors  go  on  oppressing  the 
people  of  the  land,  or  shall  the  majority  of  the  people 
of  the  land  turn  round  and  oppress  the  minority 
who  have  hitherto  oppressed  them  ? — this  last  would 
surely  be  the  lesser  evil  of  the  two.  But  there  is  no 
ground  for  any  such  fear.  No  one  wishes  to  hurt 
any  Mohammedan  who  will  live  peaceably  and  not 
hurt  Christians.  No  one  wishes  that  any  man, 
merely  because  he  is  a  Mohammedan,  should  be  in 
any  way  worse  off  than  a  Christian,  or  be  put  under 
any  disability  as  compared  with  a  Christian.  There  is 
no  reason  why  he  should  be.  For  the  Mohammedan 
religion,  though  it  does  not  command  that  Christians 
shall  be  persecuted,  does  command  that  Christians 
shall  be  treated  as  subjects  of  Mohammedans.  But 
the  Christian  religion  in  no  way  commands  that 
Mohammedan  shall  be  treated  as  the  subject  of 
Christian.     Christians   and    Mohammedans    cannot 


Islam  as  a  Factor  of  the  Problem.      1 19 

live  together  on  equal  terms  under  a  Mohammedan 
government,  because  the  Mohammedan  religion 
forbids  that  they  should ;  but  Mohammedans 
and  Christians  may  perfectly  well  live  together 
under  a  Christian  government.  They  do  so  under 
the  governments  both  of  England  and  of  Russia. 
The  few  Mohammedans  who  are  left  in  Greece 
and  in  Servia  are  in  no  way  molested ;  there 
are  mosques  both  at  Chalkis  and  at  Belgrade.  But 
it  is  foolish  to  argue,  as  some  people  do,  that  because 
men  of  different  religions  can  live  together  under  a 
Christian  government,  therefore  they  can  live  to- 
gether under  a  Mohammedan  government ;  for  both 
reason  and  the  nature  of  the  Mohammedan  religion 
prove  that  it  is  not  so.     .     .     , 

"  The  Turk  came  in  as  an  alien  and  barbarian  en- 
camped on  the  soil  of  Europe.  At  the  end  of  five 
hundred  years,  he  remains  an  alien  and  barbarian 
encamped  on  soil  which  he  has  no  more  made  his 
own  than  it  was  when  he  first  took  Kallipolis.  His 
rule  during  all  that  time  has  been  the  rule  of 
strangers  over  enslaved  nations  in  their  own 
land.  It  has  been  the  rule  of  cruelty,  faith- 
lessness, and  brutal  lust ;  it  has  not  been  govern- 
ment, but  organized  brigandage.  His  rule  cannot 
be  reformed.  While  all  other  nations  get  better  and 
better,  the  Turk  gets  worse  and  worse.  And  when 
the  chief  powers  of  Europe  join  in  demanding  that 
he  should  make  even  the  smallest  reform,  he  impu- 
dently refuses  to  make  any.  If  there  was  anything 
to  be  said  for  him  before  the  late  Conference,  there 
is  nothing  to   be  said  for  him  now.     For  an  evil 


I20 


The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 


which  cannot  be  reformed,  there  is  one  remedy  only 
— to  get  rid  of  it.  Justice,  reason,  humanity,  de- 
mand that  the  rule  of  the  Turk  in  Europe  should  be 
got  rid  of ;  and  the  time  for  getting  rid  of  it  has  now- 
come." 


ARMENIAN  REBELS  WHO  WOULD   NOT  PAY  TAXES. 


This  was  written  seventeen  years  ago  with  refer, 
ence  to  the  discontinuance  of  the  Ottoman  power  in 
Europe.  Does  it  not  now  apply  with  equal  force  to 
the  discontinuance  of  the  same  regime  in  Armenia? 


CHAPTER   IX. 

GLADSTONE  ON  THE  ARMENIAN  MASSACRE 
AND  ON  TURKISH  MISRULE. 

ON  the  eighty-fifth  anniversary  of  Mr.  W.  E. 
Gladstone's  birth,  December  29,  1894,  a 
deputation  of  members  of  the  National 
Church  of  Armenia  presented  to  his  son,  the  Rev. 
Stephen  Gladstone,  rector  of  Hawarden,  a  silver  gilt 
chalice  for  the  use  of  the  church,  in  memory  of  the 
cx-Premier's  sympathy  with  and  assistance  to  the 
Armenian  people.  On  that  occasion  Mr.  Gladstone 
made  a  long  and  eloquent  speech,  in  the  course  of 
which — after  thanking  the  deputation  for  their 
token  of  sympathy  and  their  grateful  references  to 
himself — he  said  : 

"  Well,  Mr.  Stevenson — I  address  myself  now  per- 
haps more  particularly  to  you  and  to  my  own  coun- 
trymen, to  any  of  them  who  will  take  notice  of  the 
deputation.  I  have  said  that  in  my  opinion  this 
manifestation  from  the  Armenian  community  in 
England  and  in  Paris  was,  on  my  part  at  least,  quite 
undeserved.  I  have  done  nothing  for  you  in  circum- 
stances of  great  difficulty,  and  that,  let  me  assure 
you,  has  not  been  owing  to  indifference.  I  will  explaia 
the  cause  in  very  few  words.  Rumors  went  abroad, 
growing  more  and  more  authenticated,  which  repre- 

Z2Z 


122  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

sented  a  state  of  horrible  and  indescribable  outrage 
in  Armenia.  The  impulse  of  every  man  in  circum- 
stances of  that  kind  is  to  give  way  to  a  burst  of 
strong  feeling,  but  I  had  the  conviction  that  in  a 
•grave  case  of  this  kind  every  nation  is  best  and  most 
properly  represented  by  its  government,  which  is  the 
organ  of  the  nation,  and  which  has  the  right  to  speak 
with  the  authority  of  the  nation. 

"  And  do  not  let  me  be  told  that  one  nation  has  no 
authority  over  another.  Every  nation,  and  if  need  be 
every  human  being,  has  authority  on  behalf  of  hu- 
manity and  of  justice.  (Hear,  hear.)  These  are  prin- 
ciples common  to  mankind,  and  the  violation  of  which 
may  justly,  at  the  proper  time,  open  the  mouths  of  thr 
very  humblest  among  us.  But  in  such  cases  as  these 
we  must  endeavor  to  do  injustice  to  no  one,  and  the 
more  dreadful  the  allegations  may  be,  the  more 
strictly  it  is  our  duty  not  to  be  premature  in  assum 
ing  their  truth,  but  to  wait  for  an  examination  of  the 
case,  and  to  see  that  what  we  say,  we  say  upon  a 
basis  of  ascertained  facts. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  it  was,  my  fate — my  fortune, 
I  think — about  eighteen  years  ago  to  take  an  ac- 
tive part  with  regard  to  other  outrages  which  first 
came  up  in  the  shape  of  rumor,  but  were  afterwards 
too  horribly  verified,  in  Bulgaria ;  but  I  never 
stirred  in  regard  to  those  outrages  until  in  the 
first  place,  their  existence  and  their  character  had 
been  established  by  indisputable  authority ;  and, 
secondly,  until  I  had  found  myself  driven  to  abso- 
lute despair  in  regard  to  any  hopes  that  I  could  en- 
tertain of  a  proper  representation  of  British  feeling 


Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Massacre.     123 

on  the  part  of  the  government  which  was  then  in 
office.  You  will  see,  therefore,  that  my  conduct 
on  this  occasion  has  not  been  inconsistent  with  what 
I  then  did  (hear,  hear),  and  it  does  not  imply,  old  as 
I  am,  that  my  feelings  have  been  deadened  in  regard 
to  matters  of  such  a  dreadful  description.  (Cheers.) 
"  Now  I  remained  silent  because  I  had  full  confi- 
dence that  the  government  of  the  Queen  would  do  its 
duty,  and  I  still  entertain  that  confidence.  Its  power 
and  influence  are  considerable  ;  at  the  same  time  they 
are  limited.  It  is  not  in  the  power  of  this  country, 
acting  singly,  to  undertake  to  represent  humanity  at 
large,  and  to  inflict,  even  upon  the  grossest  wrong- 
doers, the  punishments  that  their  crimes  may  have 
deserved  ;  but  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  conscience 
of  mankind  at  large,  and  the  conscience  is  not  lim- 
ited even  to  Christendom.  (Hear,  hear.)  And  there 
is  a  great  power  in  the  collected  voice  of  outraged 
humanity.  What  happened  in  Bulgaria  ?  The  Sul- 
tan and  his  government  absolutely  denied  that  any- 
thing wrong  had  been  done.  Yes,  but  their  denial 
was  shattered  by  the  force  of  facts.  The  truth  was 
exhibited  to  the  world.  It  was  thought  an  extrava- 
gance at  the  time  when  I  said :  *  It  is  time  that 
the  Turk  and  all  his  belongings  should  go  out  of 
Bulgaria  bag  and  baggage.'  They  did  go  out  of 
Bulgaria,  and  they  went  out  of  a  good  deal  besides. 
But,  quite  independent  of  any  sentiment  of  right, 
justice,  or  humanity,  common  sense  and  common 
prudence  ought  to  have  taught  them  not  to  repeat 
the  infernal  acts  which  disgraced  the  year  1876,  so 
far  as  Turkey  was  concerned.     (Cheers.) 


124  ^^^  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

"  Now,  it  is  certainly  true  that  we  have  not  arrived 
at  the  close  of  this  inquiry,  and  I  will  say  nothing  to 
assume  that  the  allegations  will  be  verified.  At  the 
same  time  I  cannot  pretend  to  say  that  there  is  no 
reason  to  anticipate  an  unfavorable  issue.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  intelligence  which  has  reached  me  tends  to  a 
conclusion  which  I  still  hope  may  not  be  verified, 
but  tends  strongly  to  a  conclusion  to  the  general 
effect  that  the  outrages  and  the  scenes  and  abomina- 
tions of  1876  in  Bulgaria  have  been  repeated  in  1894 
in  Armenia.  As  I  have  said,  I  hope  it  is  not  so,  and 
I  will  hope  to  the  last,  but  if  it  is  so  it  is  time  that 
one  general  shout  of  execration,  not  of  men,  but  of 
deeds,  one  general  shout  of  execration  directed 
against  deeds  of  wickedness,  should  rise  from  out- 
raged humanity,  and  should  force  itself  into  the  ears 
of  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  and  make  him  sensible,  if 
anything  can  make  him  sensible,  of  the  madness  of 
such  a  course. 

"  The  history  of  Turkey  has  been  a  sad  and 
painful  history.  That  race  has  not  been  without 
remarkable  and  even  in  some  cases  fine  quali- 
ties, but  from  too  many  points  of  view  it  has  been 
a  scourge  to  the  world,  made  use  of,  no  doubt, 
by  a  wise  Providence  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  If 
these  tales  of  murder,  violation,  and  outrage  be  true, 
then  it  will  follow  that  they  cannot  be  overlooked, 
and  they  cannot  be  made  light  of.  I  have  lived  to 
see  the  Empire  of  Turkey  in  Europe  reduced  to  less 
than  one  half  of  what  it  was  when  I  was  born,  and 
why  ?  Simply  because  of  its  misdeeds — a  great  record 
written  by  the  hand  of  Almighty  God,  in  whom  the 


DERVISH    BEGGARS 


Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Massacre.     125 

Turk,  as  a  Mohammedan,  believes,  and  believes  firmly 
— written  by  the  hand  of  Almighty  God  against  in- 
justice, against  lust,  against  the  most  abominable 
cruelty  ;  and  if — and  I  hope,  and  I  feel  sure,  that  the 
government  of  the  Queen  will  do  everything  that 
can  be  done  to  pierce  to  the  bottom  of  this  mystery, 
and  to  make  the  facts  known  to  the  world — if,  happily 
— I  speak  hoping  against  hope — if  the  reports  we  have 
read  are  to  be  disproved  or  to  be  mitigated,  then  let 
us  thank  God ;  but  if,  on  the  other  hand,  they  be 
established,  then  I  say  it  will  more  than  ever  stand 
before  the  world  that  there  is  no  lesson,  however 
severe,  that  can  teach  certain  people  the  duty,  the 
prudence,  the  necessity  of  observing  in  some  de- 
gree the  laws  of  decency,  and  of  humanity,  and  of 
justice,  and  that  if  allegations  such  as  these  are 
established,  it  will  stand  as  if  it  were  written  with 
letters  of  iron  on  the  records  of  the  world,  that  such 
a  government  as  that  which  can  countenance  and 
cover  the  perpetration  of  such  outrages  is  a  disgrace 
in  the  first  place  to  Mahomet,  the  Prophet  whom  it 
professes  to  follow,  that  it  is  a  disgrace  to  civilization 
at  large,  and  that  it  is  a  curse  to  mankind.  (Cheers.) 
Now,  that   is   strong   language. 

"  Strong  language  ought  to  be  used  when  facts  are 
strong,  and  ought  not  to  be  used  without  strength  of 
facts.  I  have  counselled  you  still  to  retain  and  to  keep 
your  judgment  in  suspense,  but  as  the  evidence  grows 
and  the  case  darkens,  my  hopes  dwindle  and  decline ; 
and  as  long  as  I  have  a  voice  I  hope  that  voice,  upon 
occasions,  will  be  uttered  on  behalf  of  humanity  and 
truth."     (Cheers.) ' 

*  The  London  Times,  Weekly  Edition  Jan.  14,  1895. 


126  The  Crisis  hi  Turkey. 

In  a  remarkable  paper  entitled  Bulgarian  Horrors 
and  the  Question  of  the  East  called  forth  by  the  atroc- 
ities in  1876,  Mr.  Gladstone  sums  up  some  of  the 
qualities  of  the  Turkish  race  and  of  Turkish  rule  as 
follows : ' 

"  Let  me  endeavor  very  briefly  to  sketch,  in  the 
rudest  outline,  what  the  Turkish  race  was  and  what 
it  is.  It  is  not  a  question  of  Mohammedanism  sim- 
ply, but  of  Mohammedanism  compounded  with  the 
peculiar  character  of  a  race.  They  are  not  the  mild 
Mohammedans  of  India,  nor  the  chivalrous  Saladins 
of  Syria,  nor  the  cultured  Moors  of  Spain.  They 
were,  upon  the  whole,  from  the  black  day  when  they 
first  entered  Europe,  the  one  great  anti-human  speci- 
men of  humanity.  Wherever  they  went,  a  broad 
line  of  blood  marked  the  track  behind  them  ;  and,  a* 
far  as  their  dominion  reached,  civilization  disap- 
peared from  view.  They  represented  everywhere 
government  by  force  as  opposed  to  government  by 
law.  For  the  guide  of  this  life  they  had  a  relentless 
fatalism  ;  for  its  reward  hereafter,  a  sensual  paradise. 

"  They  were,  indeed,  a  tremendous  incarnation  of 
military  power.  This  advancing  curse  menaced  the 
whole  of  Europe.  It  was  only  stayed — and  that  not 
in  one  generation,  but  in  many — by  the  heroism  of 
the  European  population  of  those  very  countries 
part  of  which  form  at  this  moment  the  scene  of  war, 
and  the  anxious  subject  of  diplomatic  action.  In 
the  olden  time  all  Western  Christendom  sympathized 
with  the  resistance  to  the  common  enemy  ;  and  even 
during  the  hot  and  fierce  struggles  of  the  Reforma- 

*  Reprinted  from  The  Christian  Register ^  Boston,  Dec,  i,  1894. 


128  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

tion  there  were  prayers,  if  I  mistake  not,  offered  up 
in  the  English  churches  for  the  success  of  the 
emperor — the  head  of  the  Roman  CathoHc  power 
and  influence — in  his  struggles  with  the  Turk. 

"  But,  although  the  Turk  represented  force  as  op- 
posed to  law,  yet  not  even  a  government  of  force 
can  be  maintained  without  the  aid  of  an  intellectual 
element  such  as  he  did  not  possess.  Hence  there 
grew  up  what  has  been  rare  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  a  kind  of  tolerance  in  the  midst  of  cruelty, 
tyranny,  and  rapine.  Much  of  Christian  life  was 
contemptuously  let  alone,  much  of  the  subordinate 
functions  of  government  was  allowed  to  devolve 
upon  the  bishops  ;  and  a  race  of  Greeks  was  attracted 
to  Constantinople  which  has  all  along  made  up,  in 
some  degree,  the  deficiencies  of  Turkish  Islam  in  the 
element  of  mind,  and  which  at  this  moment  provides 
the  Porte  with  its  long-known  and,  I  must  add, 
highly  esteemed  ambassador  in  London.  Then 
there  have  been,  from  time  to  time,  but  rarely, 
statesmen  whom  we  have  been  too  ready  to  mistake 
for  specimens  of  what  Turkey  might  become,  where- 
as they  were,  in  truth,  more  like  lusus  natura;,  on 
the  favorable  side, — monsters,  so  to  speak,  of  virtue 
or  intelligence.  And  there  were  (and  arc)  also, 
scattered  through  the  community,  men  who  were 
not,  indeed,  real  citizens,  but  yet  who  have  exhibited 
the  true  civic  virtues,  and  who  would  have  been 
citizens,  had  there  been  a  true  polity  around  them. 
Besides  all  this,  the  conduct  of  the  race  has  gradually 
been  brought  more  under  the  eye  of  Europe,  which 
it  has  lost  its  power  to  resist  or  to  defy ;  and  its 


Gladstone  op.  the  Armenian  Massacre.     129 

central  government,  in  conforming  perforce  to  many 
of  the  forms  and  traditions  of  civilization,  has  oc- 
casionally caught  something  of  their  spirit.     .    .    . 

"  I  entreat  my  countrymen,  upon  whom  far  more 
than  perhaps  any  other  people  of  Europe  it  depends, 
to  require  and  to  insist  that  our  government,  which 
has  been  working  in  one  direction,  shall  work  in  the 
other,  and  shall  apply  all  its  vigor  to  concur  with  the 
other  states  of  Europe  in  obtaining  the  extinction 
of  .the  Turkish  executive  power  in  Bulgaria.  Let 
the  Turks  now  carry  away  their  abuses  in  the  only 
possible  manner — namely,  by  carrying  off  themselves. 
Their  Zaptiehs  and  their  Mudirs,  their  Bimbashis 
and  their  Yuzbachis,  their  Kaimakams  and  their 
Pashas, — one  and  all,  bag  and  baggage, — shall,  I 
hope,  clear  out  from  the  province  they  have  desolated 
and  profaned.  This  thorough  riddance,  this  most 
blessed  deliverance,  is  the  only  reparation  we  can 
make  to  the  memory  of  those  heaps  on  heaps  of 
dead ;  to  the  violated  purity  alike  of  matron,  of 
maiden,  and  of  child  ;  to  the  civilization  which  has 
been  affronted  and  shamed  ;  to  the  laws  of  God,  or, 
if  you  like,  of  Allah  ;  to  the  moral  sense  of  mankind 
at  large.  There  is  not  a  criminal  in  a  European  jail, 
there  is  not  a  cannibal  in  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
whose  indignation  would  not  arise  and  overboil  at 
the  recital  of  that  which  has  been  done  ;  which  has 
too  late  been  examined,  but  which  remains  una- 
venged ;  which  has  left  behind  all  the  foul  and  all 
the  fierce  passions  that  produced  it ;  and  which  may 
again  spring  up,  in  another  murderous  harvest,  from 
the  soil  soaked  and  reeking  with  blood,  and  in  the 
9 


130  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

air  tainted  with  every  imaginable  deed  of  crime  and 
shame.  That  such  things  should  be  done  once  is  a 
damning"  disgrace  to  the  portion  cf  our  race  wJiich 
did  them,  that  a  door  should  be  left  open  for  their 
evcr-so-barely  possible  repetition  would  spread  that 
shame  over  the  whole?  Better,  we  may  justly  tell  the 
Sultan,  almost  any  inconvenience,  difficulty,  or  loss 
associated  with  Bulgaria, 

'  Than  thou  reseated  in  thy  place  of  light, 
The  mockery  of  thy  people  and  their  bane.' 

"  We  may  ransack  the  annals  of  the  world  ;  but  I 
know  not  what  research  can  furnish  us  with  so  por- 
tentous an  example  of  the  fiendish  misuse  of  the 
powers  established  by  God  '  for  the  punishment  of 
evil-doers,  and  for  the  encouragement  of  them  that 
do  well.'  No  government  ever  has  so  sinned  ;  none 
has  so  proved  itself  incorrigible  in  sin,  or,  which  is 
the  same,  so  impotent  for  reformation.  If  it  be  al- 
lowable that  the  executive  power  of  Turkey  should 
renew,  at  this  great  crisis,  by  permission  or  authority 
of  Europe,  the  charter  of  its  existence  in  Bulgaria, 
then  there  is  not  on  record,  since  the  beginnings  of 
political  society,  a  protest  that  man  has  lodged 
against  intolerable  misgovernment,  or  a  stroke  he  has 
dealt  at  loathsome  tyranny,  that  ought  not  hence- 
forth forward  to  be  branded  as  a  crime." 

'  And  yet  England  by  the  Cyprus  Convention  pledged  all  her 
resources  to  keep  the  door  open,  £.nd  the  repetition  thus  made  possible 
has  occurred.     Author. 


CHAPTER   X. 
WHO  ARE  THE  ARMENIANS? 

THAT  a  field  so  rich  in  possibilities  for  the  student 
of  history,  ethnology,  or  language  as  Armenia 
and  Kurdistan  should  have  remained  as  yet  so 
little  explored,  is  due,  no  doubt,  to  three  causes': 
first,  the  apparent  loss  of  significance  of  the  Armenian 
nation,  which  now,  like  Poland,  seems  but  a  stranded 
wreck  in  the  stream  of  history  ;  second,  to  her  geo- 
graphical isolation  and  the  danger  and  hardship  of 
travel  in  that  region  ^ ;  third,  to  the  linguistic 
obstacles  to  be  overcome. 

So  little  clear  and  accurate  information  about  the 
Armenians  is  readily  accessible  that  the  following 
brief  outline  is  offered  in  the  hope  of  meeting  this 
want  at  the  present  time. 

History — The   Armenian    race   belongs    to   the 

'  "  Kurdistan  abounds  in  antiquities  of  the  most  varied  and  interest- 
ing character.  ...  It  may  indeed  be  asserted  that  there  is  no 
region  of  the  East  at  the  present  day  which  deserves  a  more  careful 
scrutiny  and  promises  a  richer  harvest  to  the  antiquarian  explorer 
than  the  lands  inhabited  by  the  Kurds  from  Erzeroum  to  Kirman- 
shahan." — Major-General  H.  C.  Rawlinson,  Encyc,  Britannica, 
article  on  "  Kurdistan." 

*Mrs.  Isabella  Bird  Bishop,  yourneys  in  Persia  and  Kurdistan. 
2  vols.  New  York;  Putnam's,  189I.     London:  John  Murray. 

X3I 


132  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

Japhetic  branch  of  the  human  family,  falling  under  the 
same  category  as  the  inhabitants  of  India  and  Persia, 
who  form  the  Aryans  of  Asia.  The  Armenian 
language  proves  this  by  its  affinity  with  the  Indo- 
Germanic  tongues.  Their  physiognomy  and  physi- 
cal constitution  connect  them  with  the  best  types  of 
Caucasian  stock.  Their  manners  and  customs,  as 
well  as  their  religious  beliefs,  in  heathenism,  were 
similar  to  those  of  the  Assyrians  and  Chaldeans,  of 
the  Medes  and  Persians,  and,  still  later,  of  the  Par- 
thians. 

These  people  call  themselves  Haik,  after  Haig,  the 
most  celebrated  of  their  ancient  kings,  and  their 
land  Haiasdan.  Their  national  legends,  fortified  in 
their  eyes  by  the  Bible,  make  Haig  descend  from 
Ashkenaz  or  Togarmah,  children  of  Comer,  a  patri- 
arch of  the  line  of  Japhet.'  Foreigners  applied  to 
them  the  name  Armenians,  derived  from  King  Aram, 
said  to  be  a  descendant  of  Haig,  who  made  great 
conquests." 

The  earliest  biblical  mention  of  this  land  is  the 
statement  that  the  ark  *'  rested  upon  the  mountains 
of  Ararat,"  a  term  which  evidently  refers  to  a  dis- 
trict rather  than  a  peak.'  Another  scriptural  allusion 
is  in  connection  with  Sennacherib,  whose  parricidal 
sons  are  said  to  have  escaped,  681  B.  C,  "  into  the 
land  of  Armenia."*  Ezekiel  also  refers  to  Armenia 
under  the  name  Togarmah,  as  furnishing  Tyre  with 

'  Gen.  X.,  2,  3. 

*  Moses  of  Khorene,  History,  Bk.  i.,  chap.  12. 

•Gen.  viii.,  4. 

*Heb.  Ararat,  2  Kings  xix.,  37  ;  Isa.  xxxvii.,  38, 


Who  are  the  Ar77tc]iians?  133 

horses  and  mules,  a  product  for  which  it  is  still 
noted.'  Tigranes  I.  is  said  to  have  been  an  ally  of 
Cyrus  the  Great  in  overthrowing  the  Babylonians, 
and  thus  in  liberating  the  Jews  after  their  seventy 
years'  captivity,  538  B.  c.  A  foreshadowing  of  this 
event  is  probably  found  in  the  prophet  Jeremiah : 
"  Call  together  against  her  the  kingdoms  of  Ararat, 
Minni,  and  Ashkenaz,  ...  to  make  the  land  of 
Babylon  a  desolation  without  an  inhabitant."  * 

In  the  famous  inscriptions  of  the  Achemenida^,  at 
Persepolis  and  at  Behistun,  the  name  Armenia  is 
found  in  various  forms,  and  the  Armenian  tributaries 
march  after  the  Cappadocians  to  render  homage  to 
the  great  king.' 

Herodotus  mentions  the  absorption  of  the  Ar- 
menian Empire  in  that  of  Darius,  514  B.  C,  and  a 
tribute  of  four  hundred  talents  exacted.* 

Xenophon's  account  of  the  retreat  of  the  ten 
thousand  through  this  mountainous  region,  in  mid- 
winter, and  constantly  harassed  by  enemies,  is  valua- 
ble, not  only  as  a  tribute  to  the  splendid  discipline 
and  spirit  of  the  Greeks,  but  for  the  light  which  it 
throws  upon  the  ancient  Armenians  and  Kurds, 
whose  houses,  domestic  habits,  and  employments  are 
the  same  in  many  respects  even  at  the  present  day.* 

Armenia  was  included  in  the  conquests  of  Alex- 
ander, and  afterwards  submitted  to  the  Seleucidae  of 

'  Ezek.  xxvii.,  14;  also  xxxviii.,  6. 
'  Jer.  li.,  27-29  ;  also  1.,  9,  41,  42. 

'Christian    Lassen,  Die  altpersischen   Keil-Inschriften   von  Per- 
aepolis,  Bonn,  X836,  pp.  86,  87. 
*  History,  Bk,  iii.,  chap.  93.  ^Anabasis,  Bk.  iv. 


134  1^^^  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

Syria.  In  190  B.  c,  when  Antiochus  the  Great  was 
defeated  by  Scipio,  Armenia  revolted  under  Artaxias, 
who  gave  refuge  to  the  exiled  Hannibal.  About 
150  B.  C,  the  great  Parthian  king,  Mithridates  I., 
established  his  brother  Valarsaces  in  Armenia.  The 
most  celebrated  king  of  this  branch  of  the  Arsacid 
family  was  Tigranes  II.,  who,  while  aiding  Mithri- 
dates of  Pontus,  was  defeated  by  Pompey.  After 
this,  Tacitus  says  that  the  Armenians  were  almost 
always  at  war ;  with  the  Romans  through  hatred, 
and  with  the  Parthians  through  jealousy.*  Princes 
of  this  line  continued  to  rule,  however,  until  the 
Arsacidae  were  driven  from  the  Persian  throne  by 
the  Sassanid  Ardashir.  Though  frequently  con- 
quered by  the  kings  of  that  dynasty,  Armenia  was 
enabled  as  often  to  re-assert  her  freedom  by  the  help 
of  Roman  arms. 

When  Tiridates  embraced  Christianity,  276  A.  D., 
the  struggle  became  embittered  by  the  introduction 
of  a  religious  element,  for  the  Persians  were  bigoted 
Zoroastrians.  This  condition  reached  a  climax  when 
the  country  was  divided  between  the  Romans  and 
Persians,  under  Theodosius  the  Great,  390  A.  D. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Sassanidse,  in  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, Armenia  was  divided  between  the  Greek  Em- 
pire and  the  Saracens  ;  but  from  859  to  1045  it  was 
again  ruled  by  a  native  dynasty  of  vigorous  princes, 
the  Pagratidae.  This  was  brought  to  a  close  by  the 
suspicious  and  short-sighted  policy  of  the  Byzantine 
emperors,  one  of  whom,  Constantine  IX.,  at  last 
overthrew  the  Armenian  kingdom,  thereby  laying 
^AftnaUs,  Bk.  ii.,  ch.  56, 


AN  ARMEN'AN    TOMBSTONE   OF  A.D.   934. 

Evidence  of  a  high  state  of  art, 
135 


136  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

open  the  whole  eastern  frontier  to  the  invasion  of 
the  Seljouk  Turks,  who  shortly  before  had  begun 
their  attacks,  and  who  might  have  been  successfully 
resisted  by  these  hardy  mountaineers.  The  result 
was  fatal,  both  to  Armenia,  which  was  overrun,  and 
to  the  Greek  Empire  ;  for  by  the  battle  of  Manzikert, 
107 1  A.  D.,  when  Romanus  IV.  was  defeated  and 
made  prisoner  by  Alp  Arslan,  the  whole  of  Asia 
Minor  was  left  at  the  mercy  of  the  Seljouks.' 

Rupen,  a  relative  of  the  last  Pagratid  sovereign, 
escaped  into  Cilicia,  and  established  the  Rupenian 
dynasty,  which  was  not  extinguished  until  the 
death  of  Leon  VI.,  1393,  an  exile  in  Paris,  and  the 
last  of  the  Armenian  kings.  The  Rupenians  had 
entered  into  alliance  with  the  Crusaders.  They  wel- 
comed the  Mongolian  hordes  under  Genghis  Khan, 
early  in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  suffered  the 
vengeance  of  the  Mamelukes,  1375. 

A  graphic  account  of  the  cruelties  of  Timour  the 
Tartar,  who  devastated  Armenia  at  the  close  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  has  been  left  us  by  Thomas  of 
Medzop.  The  last  great  calamity  which  fell  upon 
the  mother  country  happened  in  1605,  when  Shah 
Abbas  forcibly  transplanted  twelve  thousand  families 
to  Ispahan  in  Persia. 

The  Armenian  Church. — It  is  the  oldest  of  all 
national  churches.  Their  legends  claim  that  our  Lord 
corresponded  with  King  Abgarus  of  Edessa  or  Ur, 
and  that  the  apostles  Thaddaeus  and  Bartholomew 
preached  the  Gospel  to  them.  But  the  historical 
founder  of  the  Armenian  church  was  St.  Gregory 
'  Tozer,  The  Church  and  the  Eastern  Empire,  pp.  22,  86. 


Vf^o  are  the  Armenians  f  137 

"  The  Illummator," '  an  Arsarcid  prince,  related  to 
KingTiridates  (Dertad),  who  was  consecrated  Bishop 
of  Armenia,  at  Caesarea,  in  302  A.  D.  The  Armenian 
church  is  Episcopal  in  polity,  and  closely  resembles 
the  Greek  in  outward  forms. 

Misled  by  imperfect  reports  of  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  451,  which  they  were  not  able  to  attend 
on  account  of  Persian  persecutions,  the  Armenian 
bishops  annulled  its  decrees  in  536,  thus  gaining  the 
credit  of  being  Eutychians,  which  led  to  their  gradual 
separation  from  the  orthodox  church,  much  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  Persian  ruler  Chosroes.  This  es- 
trangement was  doubtless  political  as  much  as  doc- 
trinal, on  account  of  the  attempts  at  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  by  the  churches  of  Constantinople  and 
Rome.  As  far  as  her  ecclesiastical  writers  are  con- 
cerned, and  her  beautiful  liturgy,  the  Armenian 
church  is  in  general  orthodox.  Her  heresy,  in  com- 
mon with  that  of  the  rest  of  Christendom,  is  one  of 
life  rather  than  of  doctrine.  A  chism  in  the  Armenian 
church  was  brought  about  in  the  sixteenth  century 
by  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  succeeded  in  detaching 
the  community  of  Catholic  Armenians  from  the 
mother  church,  of  which  the  Catholicos  at  Etchmiad- 
zin  is  recognized  as  the  supreme  head. 

All  Armenians — except  perhaps  the  Catholic, 
whose  allegiance  has  been  transferred  of  course  to 
Rome — still  cherish  a  passionate  attachment  for  the 
venerable  church  of  their  ancestors,  to  which  they 
owe  their  identity  as  a  people  after  the  terrible  vicis- 

*  Krikor  "  Loosavoritch,"  from  which  title  the  Armenian  Gregorian 
church  calls  itself  Loosavortchagan. 


138  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

situdes  of  so  many  centuries.  It  is  true  that  Ar- 
menians who  have  come  under  European  influence, 
especially  French,  have  to  some  extent  become  scep- 
tical and  indifferent  to  religion.  But  even  such  men 
still  profess  at  least  an  outward  loyalty,  as  a  matter 
of  sentiment,  and  because  they  believe  the  formal 
preservation  of  the  Armenian  church  to  be  the  con- 
dition of  national  union  in  the  future  as  it  has  been 
in  the  past.  It  is,  indeed,  almost  a  political  necessity, 
as  the  Ottoman  Empire  is  now  constituted. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  time  will  come  when  the 
children  of  the  Armenian  church  of  every  shade  will 
no  longer  look  upon  her  as  a  mother  frail  and  failing, 
yet  to  be  treated  with  respect  while  she  lasts ;  nor  as 
a  mother  ignorant  and  bigoted  beyond  hope  of  re- 
form ;  still  less,  as  one  heretical  and  to  be  abandoned 
for  Rome.  Rather,  let  all  her  sons  rally  around  her 
and  help  her  to  fulfil  her  true  spiritual  mission.  She 
will  then  renew  her  youth  and  again  take  her  honored 
place  in  the  front  ranks  of  "  the  Church  of  the  living 
God,  which  is  the  pillar  and  ground  of  the  truth." 

Would  that  the  spirit  of  the  grand  and  broad- 
minded  man  who  is  now  the  Catholicos  at  Etchmiad- 
zin,  His  Holiness,  Mugerditch  Khrimian,  might 
pervade  the  whole  body  of  which  he  is  the  honored 
and  beloved  head.  Less  than  a  year  ago,  the  author 
had  the  privilege  of  a  long  private  interview  with  this 
venerable  ecclesiastic,  whose  hand  he  kissed  in  ori- 
ental fashion,  with  respect  for  the  man  and  for  himself. 
His  last  words  to  me,  found  upon  the  title-page, 
were  "  Husahadelu  chenk"  meaning,  "  We  must  not 
despair  " — a  good  motto  for  us  all. 


Who  are  the  Armenians  f 


139 


That  the  grand  old  church  of  "The  Illuminator" 
should  somewhat  lose  its  hold  on  the  mind  and  con- 
science of  the  rising  generation  at  this  stage  of  super- 


THE  CATHOLICOS  OF  ETCHMIADZIN,  IN  THE  CAUCASUS, 

Religious  head  of  the  Armenian  Church. 

ficial  enlightenment  is  not  strange.  Her  real  merits 
are  concealed,  unfortunately,  under  a  growth  of  super- 
stition and  ignorance  which  even  the  clergy  admit. 


140  TTie  Crisis  in  Turk^. 

but  lacTc  the  courage  and  ability  to  remove.  These 
abuses,  however,  are  not  due  to  any  demoralization 
of  the  Armenian  race  itself,  but  to  its  isolation,  and 
to  the  repeated  and  terrible  devastations  that  have 
checked  its  growth  and  reduced  it  to  a  condition  of 
extreme  poverty  and  helplessness. 

No  greater  service  could  be  rendered  to  the  Ar- 
menian people  than  aid  and  encouragement  in  estab- 
lishing institutions  for  the  education  of  the  clergy, 
who  under  present  circumstances  are  their  natural 
leaders.  The  twentieth  century  will  bring,  we  hope, 
better  political  privileges.  But  unless,  in  the  mean- 
time, the  ancient  church  has  maintained  her  hold 
on  the  conscience  of  the  rising  generation,  she  is  in 
danger  of  sinking  into  the  position  of  the  church  in 
France. 

By  nature  the  Armenians  are  deeply  religious,  a? 
their  whole  literature  and  history  show.  It  has  been 
a  religion  of  the  heart,  not  of  the  head.  Its  evidence 
is  not  to  be  found  in  metaphysical  discussions  and 
hair-splitting  theology  as  in  the  case  of  the  Greeks, 
but  in  a  brave  and  simple  record  written  with  the 
tears  of  saints  and  illuminated  with  the  blood  of 
martyrs. 

The  seeds  of  a  thorough  and  far-reaching  reforma- 
tion have  been  carefully  sown  and  are  already  bear- 
ing fruit.  The  prospect  of  reform  is  brightened  by 
three  facts :  first,  the  Armenian  church  is  essentially 
democratic,  and  is  not  in  bondage  to  any  "  infallible  " 
human  authority  ;  second,  her  errors  of  doctrine  and 
practice  are  not  fundamental,  and,  having  never  been 
sanctioned  by  councils,  but  simply  by  custom  and 


JVho  are  the  Armenians  f 


141 


tradition,  can  in  due  time  be  discarded ;  third,  she 
has  always  acknowledged  the  supreme  authority  of 


THE  SUBORDINATE  CATHOLICOS  OF  AGHTAMAR,   A  TOOL  OF 
*  THE  TURKS. 

"Wearing  the  Sultan's  highest  decorations  for  servioes  rendered. 

the  Bible,  which  is  no  longer  a  sealed  book,  having 
been  translated  into  the  modern  tongue  by  American 
missionaries,  very  widely  scattered,  and  at  last  gladly 


142      .  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

received  by  all  classes.  The  demand  for  progress  and 
reform  is  by  no  means  confined  to  the  so-called 
"  evangelical "  element,  but  is  making  itself  heard 
even  in  the  pulpits  of  the  old  church  and  in  the 
secular  press. 

The  Armenians,  very  numerous  in  ancient  times, 
nownumber  only  about  4,000,000,  of  whom  2,500,000 
are  under  the  Sultan,  1,200,000  in  Russia,  150,000  in 
Persia,  and  the  rest  widely  scattered  in  many  lands, 
but  everywhere  distinguished  for  their  peaceable  and 
enterprising  character.  They  are  the  leading  bankers, 
merchants,  and  skilled  artisans  of  Turkey,  and  exten- 
sively engage  in  the  various  trades,  manufactures, 
and  agriculture  as  well.  They  love  their  native  home 
and  are  yet  destined  to  play  an  important  part  in  the 
moral  and  material  regeneration  of  western  Asia. 

The  following  estimate  is  from  an  experienced  and 
discriminating  authority,  who  is  also  a  member  of 
the  Church  of  England  : 

"  I  have  confessed  already  to  a  prejudice  against 
the  Armenians,  but  it  is  not  possible  to  deny  that 
they  are  the  most  capable,  energetic,  enterprising, 
and  pushing  race  in  Western  Asia,  physically  su- 
perior, and  intellectually  acute,  and  above  all  they 
are  a  race  which  can  be  raised  in  all  respects  to  our 
owit  level,  neither  religion,  color,  customs,  nor  inferi- 
ority in  intellect  or  force  constituting  any  barrier  be- 
tween us.  Their  shrewdness  and  aptitude  for  business 
are  remarkable,  and  whatever  exists  of  commercial 
enterprise  in  Eastern  Asia  Minor  is  almost  altogether 
in  their  hands.  They  have  singular  elasticity,  as 
their  survival  as  a  church  and  nation  shows,  and  I 


Who  are  the  Armenians?  ^43 

cannot  but  think  it  likely  that  they  may  have  some 
share  in  determining  the  course  of  events  in  the 
East,  both  politically  and  religiously.  As  Orientals 
they  understand  Oriental  character  and  modes  of 
thought  as  we  never  can,  and  if  a  new  Pentecostal 
afflatus  were  to  fall  upon  the  educated  and  intelli- 
gent young  men  who  are  being  trained  in  the  colleges 
which  the  American  churches  have  scattered  liberally 
through  Asia  Minor,  the  effect  upon  Turkey  would 
be  marvellous.  I  think  most  decidedly  that  re- 
form in  Turkey  must  come  through  Christianity, 
and  in  this  view  the  reform  and  enlightenment  of  the 
religion  which  has  such  a  task  before  it  are  of  mo- 
mentous importance.  "  * 

Language  and  Literature. — The  Armenian 
grammar  is  analogous  to  that  of  other  languages  of 
the  same  origin.  It  has  not  the  distinction  of  gen- 
der, but  is  rich  in  its  declensions  and  conjugations. 
The  accent  of  Armenian  words  is  on  the  last  sylla- 
ble, and  many  of  the  strong  consonantal  sounds 
strike  the  ear  of  a  foreigner  with  harshness,  and  defy 
his  tongue.  The  rich  native  vocabulary  has  been 
increased  by  additions  from  languages  with  which  it 
has  come  in  contact.  It  possesses  also,  as  the  Ger- 
man, great  facility  in  building  compound  words. 

The  earliest  specimen  of  this  language,  though  in 
the  cuneiform  character,  is  probably  to  be  found  in 
the  tri-lingual  inscriptions  on  the  great  citadel  rock 
of  Van,  which  have  not  yet  been  satisfactorily  made 
out.  The  pre-Christian  literature  of  Armenia,  con- 
sisting of  national  songs,  has  entirely  perished,  ex- 

'  Mrs,  Bishop,  Journeys  in  Persia  and  Kurdistan,  vol.  ii. ,  p.  336. 


144  ^^  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

cept  a  few  quotations.  All  that  has  come  down  to 
us  is  subsequent  to  the  fourth  century,  and  refers 
exclusively  to  history  or  religion.  Poetry  and  fiction 
never  greatly  flourished  among  this  serious  race,  al- 
ways in  the  midst  of  danger  or  suffering. 

The  ancient  Armenian  version  of  the  Bible,  made 
by  Mesrob,  the  inventor  of  their  alphabet,  and  his 
disciples,  early  in  the  fifth  century,  has  been  called 
the  queen  of  versions  for  its  beauty,  and,  though  not 
based  on  the  Hebrew,  is  of  some  critical  value  in 
determining  the  readings  of  the  Septuagint,  of  which 
it  does  not  follow  any  known  recension.  Hundreds 
of  other  translations  from  Syriac  and  Greek  writers 
soon  followed,  some  of  which  are  extant  only  in 
Armenian. 

The  fifth  century,  their  Golden  Age,  was  adorned 
by  such  classic  writers  as  Yeznig  of  Goghp,  who 
wrote  most  eloquently,  in  four  books,  against  the 
Persian  fire-worshippers,  the  Greek  philosophers, 
the  Marcion  heresy,  and  the  Manichaeans ;  Goriun, 
the  biographer  of  Mesrob  ;  David,  the  philosopher 
and  translator  of  Aristotle ;  Yeghishe,  who  relates 
the  heroic  struggle  of  Vartan  for  the  Christian  faith 
against  the  Persian  Zoroastrians ;  Lazarus  of  Parb  ; 
and  Moses  of  Khorene,  their  national  historian. 
There  follows  a  period  of  four  centuries  of  literary 
barrenness,  due  to  political  disorder  and  schism. 

Under  the  Rupenian  dynasty  there  was  a  second 
period  of  literary  brilliancy.  Then  flourished  Nerses 
Schnorhali  "  The  Gracious,"  an  orator  grafted  upon 
the  poet ;  as  well  as  Nerses  of  Lampron,  whose  hymns 
also  enrich  the    beautiful   Armenian  liturgy.     The 


U^o  are  the  Armenians  f 


145 


annals  of  Matthew  of  Edessa  give  interesting  facts 
about   the    first   Crusade.      Samuel   of   Ani,    John 


THE  ISLAND  MONASTERY  OF  AGHTAMAR,  IN  LAKE  VAN. 

One  of  many  similar  Annenian  Monasteries  still  existing,  rich  in 
parchment  manuscripts  exposed  to  decay  and  vandalism. 

Vanagan,  Vartan  the  Great,  and  Thomas  of  Med- 
zop  wrote  succeeding  chronicles. 

A  third  revival  of  Armenian  letters  was  begun  by 
10 


146  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

Mechitar  of  Sebaste  (Sivas),who  established  an  order 
of  Catholic  monks  at  the  monastery  of  St.  Lazarus 
in  Venice,  1 71 7.  These  fathers  have  won  the  inter- 
est and  admiration  of  European  scholars  by  their 
publication  of  Armenian  classics,  together  with  many 
learned  original  contributions.  Other  centres  of 
(iterary  activity  are  to  be  found  in  Vienna,  Paris, 
and  the  Institute  of  Moscow,  as  well  as  the  schools 
of  Constantinople  and  Tiflis. 

A  list  of  authorities  on  Armenian  subjects  is  given 
in  Appendix  E. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

AMERICANS  IN  TURKEY,  THEIR  WORK  AND 
INFLUENCE. 

THE  American  missionaries  in  the  Turkish  Em- 
pire are  brought  into  the  discussion  of  ahnost 
every  question  that  arises  in  that  land. 
Especially  is  this  true  at  present,  in  connection  with 
the  Armenian  problem.  So  many  wild  and  contra- 
dictory statements  are  made  in  regard  to  them,  and 
the  Protestant  communities  which  are  the  direct  re- 
sults of  their  labors,  that  the  mind  of  the  public  is 
more  or  less  confused  on  the  subject.  The  mission- 
aries, and  the  many  thousands  who  have  gladly  fol- 
lowed their  leadership  in  intellectual,  moral,  and 
religious  reform,  are  an  important,  though  not  a 
noisy  or  conspicuous  element.  For  this  reason,  as 
well  as  on  account  of  popular  ignorance  and  hostile 
misrepresentation,  they  cannot  be  overlooked  in  any 
fair  and  adequate  survey  of  the  situation.  The 
writer  has  long  been  familiar  with  this  phase  of  the 
subject,  and  has  a  large  mass  of  evidence  and  statis- 
tics at  his  command.  But  lie  is  tiot  connected  luith 
any  of  the  various  missionary  societies  involved,  and  is 
alone  responsible  for  the  statements  made  in  this  or 
any  other  part  of  the  volume. 

147 


148  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

It  is  very  important  to  note  that  charges  against 
the  missionaries,  of  disloyalty  to  the  Sultan,  have 
never  been  sustained  for  a  moment,  and  that  investi- 
gation has  shown  them  to  be  obedient  to  the  laws, 
and  opposed  to  revolutionary  sentiments  upon  the 
part  of  any  of  the  subjects  of  the  Empire.  The 
highest  officials  have  repeatedly  borne  public  testi- 
mony to  the  valuable  services  of  the  Americans  in 
educational,  literary,  medical  and  philanthropic 
lines.  Even  H.  I.  M.  Sultan  Abd-ul-Hamid  has 
graciously  given  expression  to  his  confidence  in 
Americans  as  being  free  from  any  political  designs, 
such  as  all  Europeans  are  supposed  to  entertain. 

Many  are  not  aware  of  the  great  work  already  ac- 
complished by  American  missionaries  during  the 
past  seventy  years  in  the  Ottoman  Empire,  nor  of 
the  vast  influence  they  have  exerted,  both  directly 
and  indirectly.  They  have  been  in  many  depart- 
ments the  pioneers  of  civilization.  They  have  stuck 
to  their  posts,  obscure  or  prominent,  in  peace  or  in 
war,  in  famine,  plague  and  persecution.  Pashas  and 
diplomats  and  generals  have  sought  their  aid  without 
fear  of  being  misled  or  betrayed.  But  the  messen- 
gers of  the  Cross  have  never  been  swerved  from  what 
they  consider  a  "  higher  calling  " — to  instruct  the 
ignorant,  young  and  old,  to  counsel  and  reclaim  the 
erring,  to  attend  the  sick  and  imprisoned,  and  to 
comfort  the  broken-hearted.  To  support  these  gen- 
eral statements,  the  reader  must  pardon  a  few  statis- 
tics compiled  from  the  latest  official  tables,  showing 
the  direct  results  of  American  missionary  effort  in 
Turkey, 


Americans  in  Turkey.  149 

STATISTICS  OF  AMERICAN  MISSIONS  IN  TURKEY.' 

The  following  figures,  with  the  exception  of  che 
Press  statistics,  represent  the  work  of  the  American 
Board  (Congregational)  and  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board  taken  together. 

The  Congregational  proportion  constitutes  about 
three  fourths  and  the  Presbyterian  one  fourth  in  all 
these  figures,  the  work  of  the  latter  society  being 
confined  to  Syria  and  Mosul. 

THE  FORCE. 

Laborers. 

Foreign  missionaries        .......        223 

Native  pastors,  preachers,  teachers,  etc,  .         .         .     1,094 


Total  force  of  laborers  .....     1,317 

American  missionaries  to  Turkey  since  1821  .         .         .         550 

'  By  far  the  largest  part  of  foreign  missionary  work  in  Turkey 
has  always  been  in  the  hands  of  Americans,  although,  of  course, 
they  neither  claim  nor  have  any  monopoly  in  this  respect.  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact  there  are  many  other  large  and  successful  missionary,  be- 
nevolent, and  educational  enterprises  conducted  in  that  land  by  other 
foreign  societies  as  well  as  individuals.  The  various  Roman  Catholic 
orders  are  strongly  established  in  many  parts,  and  are  generally  of 
French  connections  and  introduce  that  language  in  their  work  as  the 
Americans  do  English.  The  following  is  a  partial  list  of  other  socie- 
ties at  work  in  Turkey  :  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  the 
Church  Missionary  Society,  the  Bible  Lands  Missions  Aid  Society, 
the  British  Syrian  Mission  Schools  and  Bible  Work,  the  Church  of 
Scotland  Mission  to  tlie  Jews,  the  Society  of  Friends  (both  English 
and  American),  the  Irish  Presbyterian  Mission,*the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Mission,  and  the  German  Deaconesses.  In  addition  to  all 
these  agencies,  there  are  many  private  and  local  schools  and  institu- 
tions that  are  doing  excellent  work,  but  of  which  only  this  general 
mention  can  here  be  made. 

The  statistics  of  Robert  College,  Constantinople,  are  not  included 
in  these  tables,  as  that  institution,  though  a  child  of  American  Mis- 
sions, is  independent  of  them. 


I50 


The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 


Plant. 

Value  of  property  held  by  Americans,  exclusive  of 
churches,  schools,  etc.,  erected  in  the  names  of 
native  subjects,  with  foreign  aid,  for  which  sta- 
tistics are  not  available        ..... 

Annual  Expendiiuj'e. 

Appropriations  from  America         .... 
From  native  sources       ...... 


$2,500,000 


$225,000 
60.000 


Total  expenditure  annually  .         .         .         $285,000 

Total  American  expenditure  from  the  first,  at  least   $10,000,000 


THE    RESULTS. 

Religious. 

Churches  organized    ....'., 
Other  stated  preaching  places    .... 

Total  number  of  preaching  places  . 

Communicants  (received  on  confession  of  faith) 
Members  of  Protestant  civil  communities  (adherents) 
Average  Sunday  congregations 
Sunday-school  membership 

Educational. 

Colleges  well  equipped,  for 

both  sexes 
Theological  seminaries 
High-schools  for  boys  i 

Boarding-schools  for  girls  \ 
Common  schools  for  both  sexes 


5 
6    V 

80 


students 


530 
621 


Students 


155 
281 

436 

13,528 
60,000 
40,000 
35,000 


4,085 


23,315 


27,400 


Total  schools  of  all  grades 

There  are  six  American  institutions  in  Turkey 
incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
and  controlled  by  trustees  in  that  land. 

Medical. 

There  is  a  well  equipped  American  Medical  Col- 
lege and  Hospital  at  Beirut,  and  American  mission- 


Americans  in  Turkey.  151 

ary   physicians    treat,   yearly,    many   thousands   of 
patients    of    all    classes    and  races    throughout    the 
land,  both  in  their  dispensaries  and  in  private  prac- 
tice, at  a  nominal  sum  and  very  often  gratuitously. 
Publishing. 

Both  weekly  and  monthly  newspapers  are  pub- 
lished by  the  American  missionaries  at  Constantino- 
ple, in  the  Armenian,  Turkish,  Greek,  and  Bulgarian 
languages,  and  an  Arabic  weekly  is  published  at 
Beirut. 

The  catalogue  of  editions  of  the  Scriptures  and  of 
religious,  educational,  and  miscellaneous  books  and 
tracts  in  various  languages,  which  may  be  obtained 
at  the  American  Bible  House,  Constantinople,  con- 
tains separate  titles  to  the  number  of  about  locxD. 
The  publications  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Presbyte^ 
rian  Press  at  Beirut,  mostly  in  Arabic,  number  507. 
The  number  of  copies  of  the  Scriptures  (entire  or  in 
part)  put  in  circulation  by  the  Levant  Agency  of  the 
American  Bible  Society  alone,  1847  ^^  i893>  i^  i>378,- 
715.  The  number  of  copies  of  the  Scriptures  (entire. 
or  in  part)  in  layiguages  and  type  available  for  Mo- 
hammedans^ put  in  circulation  by  the  same  Agency 
in  1893,  was  Osmanli-Turkish  (Arabic  type),  5,392; 
Arabic  language  (Arabic  type),  34,077 ;  total,  39,469. 

The  number  of  copies  of  Scriptures  (entire  or  in 
part)  circulated  in  Turkey  since  1820  amounts  to 
about  3,000,000.  The  number  of  copies  of  other 
books  and  tracts  for  the  same  period  is  about  4,000,- 
000.  The  total  number  of  copies  of  the  Scriptures 
and  of  miscellaneous  literature  circulated  is  therefore 
about  7,000,000. 


152 


The  Crisis  i7t  Turkey. 


Even  these  large  figures  by  no  means  measure  the 
extent  and  significance  of  Protestant  influence  in 
Turkey.  The  idea  and  spirit  of  Protestantism  has  a 
breadth  which  cannot  be  measured  or  portrayed  by 
figures.     As  a  matter  of  convenience  and  political 


ARMENIAN   FAMILY,    BITLIS. 


necessity,  and  also  to  destroy  unity  of  feeling  and 
action  among  the  subject  peoples,  all  non-Moslem 
races  were  classified  by  Mohammed  II.,  after  the 
capture  of  Constantinople  in  1453,  according  to  their 
religious  belief.     These  lines  of  division  have  alwayjs 


Americans  in  Turkey,  153 

been  strictly  observed  by  the  government  in  all  its 
dealings  with  non-Moslems.  Even  many  of  the  taxes 
are  collected  through  ecclesiastical  organizations. 
This  policy  of  the  government,  together  with  the 
bitter  persecution  of  Protestants  by  the  older 
churches,  led  to  the  formation  of  a  Protestant  civil 
community  in  1850,  contrary  to  the  original  desire 
and  instruction  of  the  missionaries,  and  in  spite  of 
the  protests  of  many  evangelicals  who  preferred  to 
retain  connection  with  their  ancestral  church,  but 
who  were  thrust  out  with  violence  and  anathema. 

The  Protestant  communities  which  then  sprang  up 
all  over  the  Empire,  were  not  ruled,  as  are  the  other 
Oriental  churches,  by  hierarchical  bodies.  The  mis- 
sionaries, who  are  mostly  Congregational  or  Presby- 
terian, while  ready  to  advise  and  guide,  have  never 
exercised  ecclesiastical  control  over  their  converts. 
The  Protestants,  in  accordance  with  their  inherent 
spirit  and  beliefs,  have  naturally  organized  their  re- 
ligious and  civil  communities  on  a  simple  representa- 
tive basis,  which  has  gradually  developed  indepen- 
dence of  thought  and  character,  and  desire  for 
progress. 

We  come  now  to  the  indirect  results  of  missionary 
effort,  namely,  the  stimulus  of  evangelical  example  and 
success  upon  the  Gregorian  and  other  communities 
including  even  the  Mohammedans.  The  homes, 
schools,  and  churches  of  the  missionaries  have  been 
open  to  all  comers ;  their  varied  literature  has  gone 
everwhere ;  their  aid  in  sickness,  distress,  and 
famine  has  always  ignored  race  or  creed.  Many 
thousands  of  Armenians,   Greeks,   Syrians,   Jacob- 


154  '^''■^  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

ites  and  others  —  Moslems  being  prevented  by 
their  rulers  except  in  rare  instances— have  received 
education  in  Protestant  schools,  without  changing 
their  church  relations.  But,  nevertheless,  a  deep 
impression  has  been  made  on  these  pupils  by  con- 
tact no  less  than  by  teaching,  and  this,  together  with 
a  natural  and  worthy  loyalty  to  their  own  institutions, 
has  stirred  up  all  the  other  races  to  higher  ideals  and 
efforts.' 

The  existence  of  a  marked  desire  for  progress  by 
all  classes  is  now  clear,  and  that  this  is  largely  due  to 
foreign  missionaries  is  admitted  by  all" — gratefully 
by  the  Armenians  and  Christians  generally,  but  often 
with  chagrin   by  the    Turks,    who    find    themselves 

'  "  The  creation  of  churches,  strict  in  their  discipline,  and  protest- 
ing against  the  mass  of  superstitions  which  smother  all  spiritual  life 
in  the  National  Armenian  Church,  is  undoubtedly  having  a  very  salu- 
tary effect  far  beyond  the  limited  membership,  and  is  tending  to  force 
reform  upon  an  ancient  church  which  contains  within  herself  the  ele- 
ments of  resurrection." — Mrs.  Bishop,  yourneysin  Persia  and  Kurd- 
istatiy  vol.  ii.,  p.  336. 

*  Unhappily  there  are  some  who  can  see  nothing  but  bigotry  and 
mistakes  in  what  the  missionaries  have  done.  Such  characters  are  to 
be  found  among  all  races,  as  the  following  extract  shows  : 

"  It  might  be  thought  that  here,  [Missilonghi]  on  the  spot  where  he 
[Byron]  breathed  his  last,  malignity  would  have  held  her  accursed 
tongue  ;  but  it  was  not  so.  He  had  committed  the  fault,  unpardonable 
in  the  eyes  of  political  opponents,  of  attaching  himself  to  one  of  the 
great  parties  that  then  divided  Greece  ;  and  though  he  had  given  her  all 
that  man  could  give,  in  his  own  dying  words,  '  his  time,  his  means, 
his  health,  and,  lastly,  his  life,'  the  Greeks  spoke  of  him  with  all  the 
rancour  and  bitterness  of  party  spirit.  Even  death  had  not  won  obliv- 
ion for  his  political  offences  ;  and  I  heard  those  who  saw  him  die  in 
her  cause  affirm  that  Byron  was  no  friend  to  Greece." — Stephens, 
Greece,  Turkey,  Russia,  and  Polatui,  New  York :  Harper  and  Brothers, 
1839. 


Americans  in  Turkey.  155 

being  rapidly  left  behind  in  the  forward  march  which 
they  have  been  too  stupid  or  too  proud  to  fall  in 
with.  It  is,  however,  very  gratifying  to  see  that  the 
Mohammedan  leaders  in  both  Church  and  State  are 
at  length  becoming  aware  of  the  marked  intellectual 
awakening  and  substantial  progress  that  education 
has  quietly  brought  about  among  the  Christian  races. 
Robert  College  on  the  Bosphorus  stands  at  the  head 
of  the  many  well  equipped  American  institutions  in 
Turkey  which  have  largely  contributed  to  these 
results. 

We  gladly  recognize  the  wisdom  and  energy  of 
His  Majesty  the  present  Sultan,  in  trying  to  estab- 
lish Moslem  schools  throughout  his  empire,  some  of 
which  are  already  quite  large,  creditable,  and  popu- 
lar with  the  Turks.  It  cannot  be  doubted  that  these 
schools  will  lead  ultimately  to  an  awakening  and  a 
desire  for  reform  and  progress  among  Moslems 
which  will  make  them  no  less  restive  under  present 
conditions  than  are  the  non-Moslems  to-day,  and 
thus  hasten  the  necessary  reforms.  While  most 
hearty  praise  is  due  His  Majesty  for  fostering  and 
even  forcing  education  among  his  Moslem  subjects, 
it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  there  is  another  side 
to  this  policy  as  carried  out  by  his  agents,  namely, 
an  equal  zeal  in  curtailing  and  even  closing,  as  far  as 
possible,  Christian  schools. 

The  hostility  of  the  Sublime  Porte  has  been  grow- 
ing, just  in  proportion  as  the  excellent  results  of 
American  institutions,  already  enumerated,  have 
appeared.  Does  the  Turkish  Government  desire 
that  its  hostility  be  considered  the  most  convincing 


156  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

proof  of  the  success  of  disinterested  efforts  to  benefit 
its  subjects  of  all  classes?  And  does  it  propose 
to  continue  to  cripple  and  suppress  such  efforts  ?  If 
so,  it  is  not  the  two  hundred  and  fifty  American 
missionaries  in  her  borders  who  will  suffer,  but  the 
many  schools  and  churches  which  they  have  planted 
and  the  many  thousands  of  peaceable  and  hitherto 
loyal  subjects,  who  have  been  taught  in  them  to 
serve  God  as  well  as  honor  the  king. 


CHAPTER  XII. 
ARMENIAN  VILLAGE  LIFE. 

THE  following  description  will  show  to  what  con- 
dition the  villagers  of  Armenia  had  been  re- 
duced by  their  oppressors.  And  yet  it  was 
such  people  who  had  to  be  further  inpoverished  and 
massacred,  lest  by  their  indomitable  hopefulness  and 
industry,  and  by  the  operation  of  reforms  guaranteed 
by  Europe,  they  might  rise  to  equality  with  their 
Mohammedan  neighbors.  Of  course  the  customs 
and  style  of  living  of  the  Armenians  in  the  cities 
and  in  some  villages,  were  on  a  far  higher  plane, 
but  they  too  have  now  been  utterly  prostrated. 

It  is  very  easy  to  miss  the  villages  as  one  travels 
through  the  country  ;  their  location  is  indicated  by 
a  few  trees  and  cultivated  fields  rather  than  by  con- 
spicuous buildings.  The  houses  themselves  are  in- 
variably low  and  contiguous,  and  of  the  color  of  the 
mud  and  stones  of  which  they  are  made.  Where 
the  houses  are  on  a  hillside  they  run  back  into  the 
ground,  so  that  they  present  only  a  front  elevation, 
the  solid  earth  forming  the  sides  and  rear  wall.  In 
the  region  of  Bitlis  the  earthen  roofs  of  the  houses, 
instead  of  being  flat,  are  rounded,  and  thus  the  vil- 
lage at  a  distance  looks  like  a  collection  of  gigantic 

157 


158  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

ant-hills,  from  the  centre  of  which,  however,  there 
towers  a  church,  symbolic  of  the  great  and  promi- 
nent part  which  religion  plays  in  the  humble  lives  of 
the  people.  The  churches  and  monasteries  are  often 
very  ancient  structures  of  hewn  stone,  in  some  cases 
richly  carved  with  inscriptions  and  reliefs,  and  sur- 
mounted with  a  low  round  conical  tower.  The  dif- 
ference between  these  fine  old  structures  and  the 
modern  hovels  which  surround  them  forcibly  sug- 
gests to  the  beholder  the  former  prosperity  of  this 
ancient  people  when  independent,  in  contrast  with 
the  poverty  and  degradation  to  which  they  have 
been  reduced  by  their  Ottoman  masters.  In  some 
places  the  remains  of  fine  stone  bridges  are  to  be 
seen,  where  now  the  traveller  is  compelled  to  ford 
the  stream,  at  the  risk  of  losing  his  baggage  and 
perhaps  his  life. 

The  family  is  conducted  on  strictly  patriarchal 
lines.  As  the  sons  grow  up  and  are  married  they 
bring  their  brides  to  the  father's  house  instead  of 
starting  new  homes  of  their  own.  For  this  large 
establishment,  which  includes  all,  from  grandparents 
to  grandchildren,  the  word  "  family  "  or  "  house  "  is 
used.  With  this  explanation  it  does  not  seem  so 
strange  to  hear  of  families  of  twenty  or  even  fifty 
souls.  These  large  families  are  the  units  which  com- 
pose the  village.  The  members  of  each  family  have 
everything  in  common,  property,  living  rooms,  house- 
hold cares  and  pleasures  included. 

The  freedom  of  the  family  home  belongs  not  sim- 
ply to  every  human  member  of  it,  but  is  also  gener- 
ously conferred  upon  the  numerous  animals  on  which 


Armenian  Village  Life.  159 

the  family  depends.  As  day  declines,  cows,  buffaloes, 
horses,  donkeys,  sheep,  goats,  dogs,  cats,  and  chickens 
all  turn  their  steps  to  the  common  entrance,  where 
each  knows  his  place  and  is  duly  cared  for.  There 
is  little  distinction  between  drawing-room,  kitchen, 
chamber,  and  stable ;  they  all  form  parts  of  one 
semi-subterranean  cavern,  which  is  divided  by  posts, 
railings,  and  walls,  forming  a  veritable  labyrinth  to 
the  stranger,  though  every  turn  is  familiar  to  the 
regular  occupants.  The  people  gladly  welcome  the 
European  traveller,  as  an  angel  from  the  outside 
world,  who  can  take  back  their  story,  and  who, 
they  know,  will  pay  for  all  he  receives,  instead  of 
extorting  it  as  do  the  Kurds  and  Turkish  zaptiehs, 
or  police. 

On  reaching  the  village  where  one  is  to  spend  the 
night,  he  naturally  desires  at  once  to  see  his  quar- 
ters. After  the  saddle  is  removed  that  it  may  not 
be  injured  in  going  through  the  low  passages,  both 
horse  and  traveller  are  led  in  by  the  light  of  a  flicker- 
ing wick  in  a  cup  of  linseed-oil,  which  barely  suffices 
to  reveal  the  sooty  walls  and  posts.  The  guide  warns 
you  not  to  strike  your  head  on  that  beam,  or  to  step 
into  the  puddle  on  your  left  ;  in  avoiding  the  puddle 
you  stumble  over  something  on  the  right,  but  your 
host  immediately  puts  you  at  your  ease  by  saying  it 
was  only  a  calf.  He  then  proceeds  to  remove  a  yoke 
of  buffaloes  or  half  a  dozen  sheep  from  one  obscure 
corner,  and  informs  you  that  it  is  at  your  disposal. 
The  poor  creatures  linger  so  near  that  you  can  hear 
them  breathe  and  catch  the  reproachful  expression 
of  their  lustrous  eyes.     Before  you  realize  what  is 


i6o  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

going  on,  the  corner  has  been  swept,  with  the  effect 
of  raising  a  stifling  dust.  In  summer  you  would 
prefer  the  roof  to  the  inside  accommodation,  but 
this  happy  alternative  would  be  impossible  in  win- 
ter. The  temperature  of  these  crowded,  unventi- 
lated,  damp  compartments — not  to  mention  the  fleas 
— makes  you  so  uncomfortable  that  sleep  is  out  of 
the  question.  A  hole  in  the  roof  is  often  the  only 
window,  and  serves  also  as  a  chimney  ;  but  in  winter 
even  this  is  generally  closed. 

The  heavy  pungent  smoke  of  the  animal  fuel  with 
which  your  supper  is  being  cooked  at  last  drives  you 
out  of  your  corner,  and  you  conclude  to  take  a  quiet 
look  about  the  house.  The  children,  overawed  by 
your  presence,  make  no  sound  and  hardly  dare  to 
move.  You  notice  one  woman  nursing  a  baby,  tightly 
rolled  in  swaddling  bands  and  strapped  into  a  cradle. 
She  does  not  remove  the  child,  but  sits  upon  the 
floor,  which  is  of  earth,  tilting  the  cradle  over  to  her. 
The  cradle  has  no  rockers,  and  if  the  child  cries  he 
is  rudely  "  soothed  "  by  being  bumped  from  side  to 
side.  Another  woman  is  churning  a  goatskin  full  of 
sour  milk  by  jerking  it  back  and  forth  as  it  hangs 
from  a  beam  in  the  roof. 

The  meal,  which  consists  of  fermented  milk,  boiled 
wheat  or  rice,  and  eggs  fried  in  a  sea  of  butter,  is  at 
last  served  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  on  a  round 
tray,  about  a  yard  in  diameter,  of  wood  or  copper, 
resting  on  a  low  stool.  Every  article  of  food  is  served 
in  a  single  dish,  from  which  each  helps  himself,  using 
his  fingers  for  a  fork.  If  the  food  is  liquid,  it  is  eaten 
by  twisting  the  thin  tenacious  bread  into  the  form  of 


Armenian  Village  Life,  i6l 

a  spoon,  which  disappears  in  the  mouth  together  with 
what  it  conveys.  The  civiUzed  drudgery  of  dish- 
washing is  thus  reduced  to  the  simple  process  of 
washing  hands,  which  each  one  does  for  himself, 
both  before  and  after  the  meal. 

A  certain  etiquette  and  kindly  feeling  refines  even 
these  dismal  homes,  and  points  to  higher  ideals  than 
the  material  condition  would  indicate. 

THE   SASSOUN   COMMUNITY. 

As  a  matter  of  history  I  wish  to  place  on  record 
a  brief  description  of  the  inhabitants  of  Sassoun, 
Avho  were  killed,  scattered  and  destroyed,  as  a  com- 
munity by  the  massacre  of  1894,  and  subsequent 
events. 

Hemmed  in  by  rough  mountains  and  wild  Kurds, 
the  Armenians  of  the  Sassoun  district  were  a  re- 
markable community  of  about  forty  villages,  shut  off 
from  the  outside  world,  of  which  they  had  only  the 
most  vague  ideas.  Their  position,  bravery,  and 
numbers  had  enabled  them  to  resist,  to  some  extent, 
the  robber  tribes  around  them,  but  not  the  con- 
stantly increasing  extortions  of  the  Turkish  tax- 
gatherer.  The  dread  of  the  former  and  the  burden 
of  the  latter  were  all  that  clouded  their  otherwise 
glad  and  simple  existence.  They  were  not,  like  the 
more  exposed  and  impoverished  Armenians  of  the 
plains,  in  the  habit  of  seeking  employment  in  distant 
cities,  but,  like  all  mountaineers,  were  passionately 
attached  to  home.  The  commercial  instinct,  so 
strong  in  most  Armenians,  was  foreign  to  them.  I 
once  asked  one  of  the  leading  men  of  Ghelieguzan, 
11 


1 62  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

"  What  is  there  >  ou  need  which  you  cannot  make 
yourselves  ?  '*  "  Nothing  but  salt,"  he  instantly  re- 
plied, adding,  after  a  pause,  "  and  gunpowder." 
Shut  out  the  Kurds,  and  the  Armenians  would  have 
had  no  use  for  gunpowder  except  against  the  bears 
and  wolves. 

Though  the  mountains  were  rocky  and  precipitous, 
a  large  population  supported  itself  by  the  care  of 
fields  and  flocks  in  the  fertile  and  sheltered  valleys. 
Life  in  Sassoun  was  physically  comfortable,  though 
not  luxurious.  Open-handed  hospitality  and  care  of 
the  poor  were  as  much  a  duty  as  provision  for  one's 
own  family.  The  houses  were  of  stone,  often  two 
and  even  three  stories  high. 

There  was  considerable  variety  in  the  occupations 
which  followed  one  another  in  rapid  succession 
throughout  the  year.  No  drones  were  tolerated  in 
that  busy  hive,  and  in  all  their  toil  men  and  women 
stood  shoulder  to  shoulder.  Which  bore  the  heavier 
burden  the  reader  may  decide.  Take  the  care  of  the 
flocks  and  herds  for  instance,  in  which  their  chief 
wealth  consisted.  To  the  men  was  entrusted  the 
task  of  pasturing  and  protecting  them,  but  the 
women  did  all  the  milking  and  made  the  butter  and 
cheese.  The  shearing  of  the  sheep  was  men's  work, 
but  the  women  washed,  carded,  and  spun  the  wool 
into  thread,  which  was  then  woven  into  excellent 
cloth  by  the  men  on  their  heavy  looms,  and  after- 
ward made  into  garments  for  all  the  household  by 
the  women.  Crude  cotton,  also,  brought  from 
Mesopotamia,  was  put  through  the  same  stages. 
The  bringing  of  wood  and  water  was  always  left  to 


Armenian  Village  Life.  163 

the  women  and  girls.  After  the  men  had  ploughed, 
sowed,  and  irrigated  the  fields,  the  reaping — a  very 
slow  and  laborious  task — was  done  by  their  wives 
and  sisters,  who  also  winnowed  and  cleaned  the 
grain,  after  the  men  had  threshed  it.  The  straw  was 
carefully  stored  for  the  food  of  the  horses  and  cattle 
in  winter. 

During  the  dry  months  of  summer  practically  all 
the  animals  and  most  of  the  women  and  children 
would  migrate  to  the  cool  upper  slopes  of  the 
mountains,  where  the  melting  snow  keeps  the  grass 
always  green.  The  men  by  irrigation  were  able  to 
raise  wheat,  millet,  barley,  and  rye,  together  with  such 
vegetables  as  potatoes,  tomatoes,  squashes,  cucum- 
bers, turnips,  peas,  and  beans.  Around  their  rude 
low  stone  houses  they  nourished  a  few  fruit  trees 
such  as  the  apple,  pear,  cherry,  apricot,  and  quince. 
In  the  lower  valleys  of  Talori  the  fig  also  flourished 
and  the  vine,  but  in  the  course  of  the  massacre  all 
fruit  trees  and  vineyards  throughout  the  region  were 
systematically  cut  down.  Honey  of  excellent 
quality  was  very  abundant. 

These  clever  people  made  even  their  own  iron 
tools,  which  were  so  good  as  to  be  readily  sold  in 
Moosh  and  other  neighboring  towns.  The  villagers 
obtained  the  iron  from  the  crude  ore  which,  after 
being  laboriously  extracted  by  hand  was  reduced  in 
rude  furnaces,  kept  at  melting  heat  by  hand  bellows 
day  and  night,  two  weeks  at  a  time.  The  only  fuel 
used  was  wood,  and  care  had  to  be  taken  not  to  let 
the  metal  run  out  in  quantities  larger  than  a  black- 
smith could  easily  handle  in  making  a  plowshare, 


164  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

scythe,  axe,  sword,  or  knife.  The  report  that  these 
blacksmiths  even  had  the  skill  to  make  a  rifle  barrel 
is  a  mistake. 

I  once  asked  a  man  and  his  wife  to  enumerate  the 
various  tasks  which  fell  to  their  respective  sexes  and 
was  quite  amused  at  the  eager  competition  into 
which  they  at  once  entered.  Strange  to  say,  the 
woman  entirely  omitted  the  training  and  care  of 
children  as  one  of  her  additional  burdens.  When  I 
called  attention  to  this  oversight  they  both  exclaimed 
"  The  children  take  care  of  themselves."  And  so  they 
do,  almost  from  the  first.  The  children,  with  their 
bright  eyes  and  ruddy  faces,  would  be  attractive  but 
for  the  fact  that  they  were  often  far  from  tidy,  and 
were  dressed  in  coarse  garments  of  red  or  blue.  They 
were  loved  but  not  often  petted,  being  taught  to  be 
silent  and  to  show  an  air  of  reverence  in  the  presence 
of  their  elders.  At  a  very  early  age,  the  children 
were  initiated  into  the  employments  which  were  to 
occupy  their  lives. 

Almost  the  only  men  who  knew  how  to  read  and 
write  were  those  connected  with  the  Church,  and 
they  were  by  no  means  adepts.  In  the  matter  of 
numbers,  however,  they  could  easily  calculate  with- 
out the  aid  of  figures.  These  intelligent  highlanders 
knew  the  value  of  education,  and  had  repeatedly 
tried  to  start  schools  in  their  villages,  but  they  were 
invariably  closed  by  the  government. 

The  morality  of  the  people  of  Sassoun  was  of  a 
very  high  standard.  Wine  made  by  themselves  was 
moderately  used  on  festive  occasions,  but  drunken- 
ness   was   practically    unknown.      The    mountain 


Jlrmenia7t  Village  Life.  165 

women,  unlike  their  sisters  of  the  cities,  used  the 
veil,  not  to  cover  the  face,  but  to  fall  as  a  graceful 
drapery  down  the  back.  They  had  the  frank  and 
direct  look  which  we  are  accustomed  to  see  only  in 
children,  and  were  quick  to  detect  and  resent  evil, 
even  with  violence,  as  the  intruder  would  find  to  his 
cost.  These  people  had  neither  laws  nor  courts,  but 
referred  their  disputes  to  the  head-man  of  the  vil- 
lage, from  whose  decision  appeal  was  rarely  made. 
The  head-man,  or  "  r/zV,"  held  ofifice  simply  by  com- 
mon consent  of  the  villagers,  not  as  a  hereditary 
right  or  a  prerogative  of  wealth,  but  because  of 
superior  character  and  ability. 

Religion  was  a  vital  matter  to  the  people  of  Sas- 
soun,  but  concerned  itself  only  with  the  barest  essen- 
tials. They  had  no  more  conception  of  theologi- 
cal doctrines  than  had  the  people  who  listened  to 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Christianity  was  to  them 
a  story,  the  characters  of  which  were  real  and  kept 
before  them  by  the  frequent  festivals  of  the  Chris- 
tian year.  They  felt  profound  reverence  for  the 
Virgin  Mary,  but  Christ  was  the  object  of  their  wor- 
ship. Their  gratitude,  submission,  and  love  to  Him 
would  find  expression  in  brief  significant  exclama- 
tions, deep  sighs,  and  sometimes  silent  tears.  Such 
evidences  I  have  frequently  noticed  among  Armenian 
peasants  as  they  listened  to  the  reading  of  the  Scrip- 
tures or  engaged  in  prayer.  Their  first  daily  act  as 
they  stepped  from  their  dark  cheerless  dwellings  was 
an  act  of  prayer,  accompanied  by  repeated  prostra- 
tions to  the  East  with  the  sign  of  the  Cross. 

A  large  number  of  villagers  who  had  escaped  the 


1 66  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

general  massacre,  and,  relying  on  Turkish  promises, 
followed  their  priest  into  the  soldiers'  camp,  were 
offered  their  lives  on  condition  they  would  trample 
upon  the  Crucifix  and  Holy  Gospels.  But  the  priest 
in  horror  refused  to  commit  this  sacrilege,  and  every 
member  of  his  flock,  following  his  example,  was  forth- 
with butchered. 

I  have  carefully  verified  these  details  of  Sassoun 
life  and  of  the  massacre  in  conversation  with  Bedros 
and  his  wife,  who,  after  escaping  almost  miraculously, 
when  a  score  of  their  relatives  were  killed  before 
their  eyes,  were  brought  to  London  to  give  their 
testimony.  I  was  profoundly  impressed  with  the 
simple  dignity  and  absolute  truthfulness  of  these 
witnesses,  who  bore  bodily  scars,  and  in  their  faces 
showed  the  evidence  of  the  terrible  sorrow  and  suf- 
fering through  which  they  had  so  lately  gone. 
When  asked  what  his  impression  was  of  England, 
the  man  thoughtfully  replied  :  "  I  wonder  at  the 
houses,  the  great  buildings,  the  fields  all  like  gardens, 
the  multitude  of  people,  their  wealth,  and  their 
churches  ;  but,  most  of  all,  I  wonder  that  with  all 
their  greatness  and  power  they  did  not  lift  a  finger 
to  save  us,  their  poor  fellow-Christians,  of  whose 
sufferings  they  have  so  long  been  officially  informed." 

The  following  incident  throws  much  light  upon 
the  character  and  environment  of  the  people  of 
Sassoun.  About  six  years  ago  twenty  armed  Kurds 
suddenly  came  down  upon  the  house  of  a  rich  man 
near  Ghelieguzan  to  steal  the  sheep,  when  only  his 
wife  and  children  were  at  home.  They  ordered  the 
woman  to  prepare  a  good  meal  before  they  left.     In 


Armenian  Village  Life.  167 

the  most  obliging  manner  the  housewife  set  about 
her  task.  But  in  the  meantime  she  dispatched  one 
of  her  httle  boys  to  give  the  alarm  to  the  men,  away 
on  the  mountain  side.  The  unsuspecting  Kurds 
hung  their  long  flint-lock  rifles  on  the  walls  of  the 
kitchen,  and  went  out  to  search  the  stables  and 
collect  the  live  stock.  While  they  were  engaged  in 
this  work,  out  of  sight,  the  woman  with  her  strong 
fingers,  quickly  pulled  out  the  flint  from  the  lock  of 
each  musket,  leaving  them  still  hanging  on  the  wall. 
In  order  to  allow  the  men  of  her  family  more  time, 
she  prepared  a  specially  elaborate  meal,  to  which 
the  Kurds  made  no  objection.  But  when  they  were 
in  the  midst  of  the  repast,  they  suddenly  found 
themselves  surrounded  by  the  villagers  who  had 
hastily  mustered.  Each  Kurd  seized  his  flint-lock 
only  to  find  it  useless.  They  thereupon  drew  their 
swords  and  daggers,  and  were  about  to  make  a  rush 
to  escape,  but  were  quickly  brought  to  bay  by  the 
levelled  muskets  of  the  Armenians,  to  whom  they 
thought  best  to  surrender.  After  being  stripped  of 
all  their  arms  and  outer  garments  the  Kurds  were 
informed  that  they  might  go  home,  and  if  they 
wished  their  weapons  they  might  return  the  next 
day  with  reinforcements  and  try  to  take  them.  The 
Kurds  did  not  see  fit  to  try  this  method,  but  so  pes- 
tered the  Armenians  in  other  ways,  that  at  the  end 
of  three  months  the  muskets  were  given  back  to 
avoid  further  trouble. 

It  should  not  be  thought,  however,  that  such  inci- 
dents as  this  could  occur  among  the  Armenians  any- 
where in  Turkey,  except  among  the  highlanders  of 


1 68  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

Sassoun,  or  those  of  Zeitoun,  three  hundred  miles 
west  in  the  Taurus  mountains.  These  two  httle 
communities  were  quite  exceptional  in  their  secure 
location  and  brave  spirit.  The  other  Armenians 
throughout  Eastern  Turkey,  timid  and  crushed  by 
more  severe  oppression,  used  to  speak  of  the  Sas- 
sounlis  with  an  admiration  almost  akin  to  reverence. 
It  was  on  this  account  that  they  were  singled  out  by 
the  Government  for  extermination,  for  it  was  feared 
that  their  brave  and  independent  spirit  might  spread 
to  the  Armenians  of  the  plains  and  cities,  while  their 
destruction,  on  the  other  hand,  would  strike  terror 
everywhere,  and  prove  a  salutary  object-lesson  to 
those  who  might  be  disposed  to  express  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  Sultan's  rule.  In  this  calculation  the 
Turks  were  mistaken.  The  blood  of  those  noble 
mountaineers,  instead  of  acting  like  a  stupefying 
drug  upon  the  Armenian  race,  proved  to  be  a  stimu- 
lant, and  enlisted  the  sympathy  of  Europe.  This 
so  alarmed  and  irritated  the  Turks  that,  in  order 
to  prevent  any  progress  of  the  Armenians  either 
through  their  own  eiTorts  or  those  of  Europe,  they 
have  committed  further  massacres  in  comparison 
with  which  Sassoun  hardly  deserves  to  be  mentioned. 
There  are  no  words  to  characterize  the  cowardly 
betrayal  of  the  Armenians  by  England,  and  Europe 
which  guaranteed  their  protection. 

The  "  Powers  "  impotent  for  good,  while  masquer- 
ading in  the  livery  of  Christianity,  have  proved  its 
worst  enemies  and  shown  themselves  callous  even  to 
the  principles  of  ordinary  humanity. 


APPENDIX  A. 

A  BIT  OF  AMERICAN  DIPLOMACY  IN  TURKEY. 

THE  CASE. 

(Foreign  Relations  of  the  United  States,  1884,  pp.  538-539.') 

(Inclosure  in  No.  317.) 

Mr.   Wallace  to  Aarijl  Pasha. 

Note  Verbale. 

Legation  of  the  United  States, 

Constantinople,  January  24,  1884. 

The  legation  of  the  United  States  of  America  has  the  honor  to  in- 
vite the  attention  of  his  highness,  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  to 
the  matters  following  : 

By  note  No.  167,  June  13,  1883,  the  legation  informed  his  high- 
ness that  two  American  citizens,  traveling  in  the  vilayet  of  Bitlis,  had 
been  set  upon  by  Kurds,  robbed,  and  left  to  die,  and  that  the 
governor-general  of  the  vilayet  had  manifested  the  most  singular  in- 
difference about  the  affair,  and  might  be  fairly  charged  with  responsi- 
bility for  the  escape  of  the  malefactors.  The  suggestion  was  then 
made  that  his  highness  would  serve  the  cause  of  humanity  and  justice 
by  ordering  the  most  energetic  measures  to  be  taken  for  the  appre- 
hension of  the  robbers. 

By  a  communication,  No.  71235,  June  13,  1883,  his  highness  was 
good  enough  to  answer  the  note  of  the  legation,  and  give  the  pleas- 

'  This  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  official  documents  as  published  by 
the  State  Department,  capitalization  included. 

I6g 


1 70  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

ing  intelligence  that  the  governor-general  had  succeeded  in  discover- 
ing the  goods  taken  from  the  two  gentlemen,  and  that  the  robbers 
had  been  arrested  and  delivered  up  to  justice.  This  information  his 
highness  reported  as  derived  from  the  governor-general. 

This  report  the  legation  found  it  necessary  to  correct;  and  for  that 
purpose  it  addressed  a  second  note  to  his  highness,  the  minister  of 
foreign  affairs,  No.  179,  dated  September  10,  1883,  declaring  that  the 
robbers  had  not  been  arrested,  and  that  the  goods  and  money  taken 
from  Messrs.  Knapp  and  Reynolds  had  been  returned  to  them,  but  in 
small  parts.  Under  impression  that  it  was  yet  possible  to  obtain  the 
powerful  assistance  of  the  Sublime  Porte  in  bringing  the  thieves  and 
assassins  to  justice,  the  legation  in  the  same  note  proceeded  to  give 
the  full  particulars  of  the  affair,  both  those  connected  with  the  as- 
sault and  those  descriptive  of  the  action  of  the  governor-general.  Of 
the  assault,  it  remarked  that  Messrs.  Knapp  and  Reynolds,  accepting 
the  assurance  of  the  governor-general  that  the  roads  were  perfectly 
safe,  set  out  on  their  journey  without  a  guard  of  zaptiehs.  They  put 
up  for  a  night  at  a  house  where  there  was  present  Moussa  Bey,  son 
of  Meza  Bey,  an  influential  Kurdish  chief.  "When  they  took  their 
coffee  they  failed  to  send  a  cup  of  it  to  the  said  Moussa,  who  feeling 
himself  insulted  by  the  inattention,  took  four  assistants  and  next  day 
waylaid  the  gentlemen,  one  of  whom,  Mr.  Knapp,  they  beat  with 
clubs  until  they  supposed  him  dead.  Moussa  Bey,  with  his  own 
hand,  cut  down  Dr.  Reynolds,  giving  him  ten  cuts  with  a  sword. 
The  two  were  then  bound  and  dragged  into  the  bushes  and  there  left 
to  die.  That  there  might  be  no  excuse,  such  as  that  the  murderers 
were  unknown,  the  legation  gave  his  highness  the  names  of  the  sub- 
ordinate assassins  and  their  places  of  abode,  Sherif  Oglon  Osman 
and  Iskan  Oglon  Hassan,  both  of  the  village  of  Movnok.  A  third 
one  was  pointed  out  as  the  servant  of  Moussa  Bey,  living  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Kabiaa.  Of  the  action  of  the  governor-general  the  legation 
said  further  that  when  the  affair  was  reported  to  him  he  made  a  show 
of  action  by  sending  zaptiehs  to  arrest  the  robbers,  but,  singular  to 
remark,  he  selected  Meza  Bey,  the  father  of  Moussa,  to  take  charge 
of  the  party.  Going  to  the  village  of  Auzont,  Meza  Bey  pointed  out 
four  Kurds  of  another  tribe  as  the  guilty  men,  took  them  into  cus- 
tody and  carried  them  for  identification  to  Messrs.  Knapp  and  Rey- 
nolds, who  said  they  were  not  the  assailants. 

During  the  night,  in  Aozou,  a  bundle  was  thrown  through  a  window 
into  a  room  occupied  by  the  police,  which  on  examination  proved  to 


Appendix,  171 


contain  a  portion  of  the  stolen  goods.  With  this  the  governor-gen- 
eral rested  from  his  efforts  and  dispatched  to  his  highness  the  minis- 
ter of  foreign  affairs,  that  the  stolen  goods  were  recovered  and 
returned,  and  the  felons  captured  and  punished.  This  report,  the 
legation  took  the  liberty  of  informing  his  highness,  was  not  true,  also 
that  the  chief  of  the  assassins,  Moussa  Bey,  was  still  at  large  ;  and 
to  emphasize  its  statement,  the  legation  further  said  to  his  highness, 
that  the  details  it  communicated  were  current  through  all  the  region 
of  Bitlis,  having  been  first  given  out  by  Moussa  himself.  The  lega- 
tion then,  in  the  same  note,  exposed  the  maladministration  of  the 
governor-general  in  language  plain  as  respect  for  his  highness,  the 
minister,  and  for  the  Sublime  Porte  would  permit,  and  suggested  as 
the  only  means  of  accomplishing  anything  like  redress  that  a  brave 
impartial  officer  be  sent  to  Bitlis  to  investigate  the  conduct  of  the 
governor  and  take  the  affair  in  his  own  hands.  "  Such  a  step,"  it 
was  added,  "  might  serve  to  save  the  lives  of  many  Christians,"  and 
it  was  further  represented  that  "could  the  assassins  be  brought  to 
just  sentence  it  would  unquestionably  lessen  the  demand  for  indem- 
nity which  otherwise  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  legation  to  present 
against  the  Imperial  Government  in  this  connection." 

On  November  7,  1883,  the  legation  of  the  United  States,  by  a  third 
note,  No.  184,  communicated  to  his  highness,  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  that  the  governor-general  of  Bitlis  had  confronted  four  per- 
sons with  Mr,  Knapp  for  identification,  and  that  that  gentleman  had 
recognized  Moussa  Bey  as  one  of  those  who  had  robbed  and  wounded 
him.  The  legation  of  the  United  States  then  expressed  a  hope  that 
the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  would  give  proper  orders  for  bringing 
Moussa  Bey  and  his  companions  in  crime  before  the  tribunals  for 
trial. 

Still  later,  on  November  12,  1883,  the  legation  of  the  United 
States  addressed  a  fourth  note.  No.  185,  to  his  highness,  the  minister 
of  foreign  affairs,  detailing  again  the  circumstances  of  the  attempted 
murder  of  Messrs.  Knapp  and  Reynolds,  and  representing  the  un- 
trustworthiness  of  the  governor-general  by  charging  that  Moussa  Bey 
had  already  obtained  from  him  assurances  of  immunity  in  the  event 
of  a  trial  and  conviction. 

His  highness,  the  minister,  was  then  requested  that,  if  it  was 
decided  to  maintain  the  governor-general  at  his  post,  orders  be  given 
for  the  transfer  of  the  criminals  to  Constantinople  for  trial. 

The  three  notes  last  named  of  the  legation  of  the  United  States 


172  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

have  not  been  answered  by  his  highness,  the  minister  of  foreign 
affairs,  except  in  a  note,  dated  December  8,  1883,  in  which  he  is 
pleased  to  renew  assurances  based  upon  telegrams  from  the  governor- 
general,  which  are  utterly  unreliable. 

Wherefore,  abandoning  hope  of  justice  through  the  governor- 
general  of  Bitlis,  and  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  empire,  the  legation 
of  the  United  States  finds  itself  compelled  to  change  its  form  of  ap- 
plication for  redress,  and  demand  of  the  Sublime  Porte  indemnity  in 
behalf  of  Messrs.  Knapp  and  Reyr.cids,  for  the  former  ;^i, 500,  and 
for  the  latter,  because  of  the  more  serious  nature  of   his  injuries, 

;^2,000. 


THE  POSITION  TAKEN  IN  WASHINGTON. 

(Foreign  Relations  of  the  United  States,  1884,  p.  544.) 

No.  419. 

Mr.  Frelinghuysen  io  Mr,   Wallace. 

(No.  153.)  Department  of  State, 

Washington^  February  jj,  1884. 

Sir:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your  No.  317,  of  the 
25th  ultimo,  relative  to  the  case  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Knapp  and  Dr. 
Reynolds,  murderously  attacked  by  Kurds  near  Bitlis,  and  to  say 
that,  after  a  careful  consideration  of  all  the  facts  before  the  Depart- 
ment, the  inaction  of  the  governor  of  Bitlis  and  the  failure  of  the 
supreme  Government  to  force  him  to  undertake  such  measures  as  the 
case  evidently  demanded,  must  be  regarded  as  a  denial  of  justice. 
While  this  Government  is  always  averse  to  making  money  demands 
for  indemnity  in  countries  whose  administration  of  justice  may  differ 
from  our  own,  the  Department  feels  compelled  to  resort  to  this 
remedy  under  circumstances  which  manifestly  make  the  local  officers 
and  the  Government  of  the  Porte  responsible  for  the  failure  to  do 
justice  in  this  case. 

The  action  reported  in  your  dispatch  is,  consequently,  approved. 
I  am,  &c,, 

Fred'k  T.  Frelinghxtysen. 


Appendix.  173 

THE  POSITION  TAKEN  IN  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

General  Lew  Wallace  is  understood  to  have  been  emphatically 
a  persona  grata  as  U.  S.  Minister  to  Turkey,  in  fact  to  have  en- 
joyed, to  a  very  exceptional  degree,  the  personal  confidence  and 
friendship  of  His  Majesty  the  present  Sultan.  The  following  quota- 
tion will  show  what  treatment  even  he  received  in  the  discharge  of 
his  official  duties  in  the  case  under  consideration  : 

From  the  Regular  Correspondent  of  the  Tribune. 

CONSTANTINOPLE,  March  i,  1884. 

The  Porte,  in  deciding  how  far  it  is  safe  to  affront  foreign  Gov- 
ernments, has  even  ranked  the  United  States  below  some  of  the 
European  States.  The  Porte  during  the  past  year  has  treated  Gen- 
eral Wallace  as  if  he  were  the  representative  of  a  Danubian  Princi- 
pality. Remonstrance  after  remonstrance  against  fresh  violations  of 
the  treaties  it  has  left  unanswered,  and  it  has  repeatedly  omitted  the 
courtesy  of  a  bare  acknowledgment  of  their  receipt.  In  fact,  Turkey 
has  been  relying  upon  the  distance  of  the  United  States.  Perhaps  its 
officials  even  suppose  that  the  American  navy  is  afraid  to  risk  adven- 
tures so  far  from  home  as  the  coasts  of  the  Levant. 

General  Wallace  found  it  necessary,  for  the  sake  of  the  safety  of 
American  citizens  in  Turkey,  to  press  for  some  definition  of  the  situa- 
tion. During  nearly  five  weeks  he  had  been  refused  a  personal 
interview  with  the  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  on  the  ground  of 
"  indisposition."  During  all  that  time  the  representative  of  that  Min- 
ister declined  to  enter  upon  any  discussion  of  the  important  questions 
at  issue.  Four  times  the  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  had  been  turned  away  from  the  door  of  the  Sublime  Porte  by 
the  refusal  of  the  Grand  Vizier  to  see  him.  Each  time  plausible 
reasons  were  assigned  which  seemed  to  render  any  insistance  on  the 
part  of  the  General  uncourteous.  Yet  it  became  daily  more  evident 
that  all  these  plausible  excuses  for  declining  negotiation  on  the  inju- 
ries done  by  Turkey  to  American  commerce  and  to  American  citizens 
were  part  of  a  settled  purpose  not  to  redress  the  wrongs. — New  York 
Semi- Weekly  Tribune ^  March  2S,  1884. 


174  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

THE  RESULT. 

The  ten  years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  above  was  written  clearly 
show  that  what  seemed  then  to  be  a  *'  settled  purpose  "  has  become 
the  settled  policy  of  the  Ottoman  Government  in  regard  to  Americans 
and  their  rights  in  Turkey. 

In  regard  to  the  outcome  of  the  case  of  Messrs.  Knapp  and  Ray- 
nolds,  the  humiliating  fact  must  be  recorded  that  not  one  cent  of  the 
indemnity  demanded  by  the  United  States  of  America  has  to  this  day 
been  obtained.  The  monster,  Moussa  Bey,  was  allowed  by  the 
Turkish  Government  to  continue  his  outrages  on  the  Armenian  vil- 
lages of  the  great  Moosh  plain,  until  his  record  became  so  appalling, 
that  under  European  pressure  the  Porte  summoned  him  to  Constanti- 
nople, where  he  was  entertained  as  the  Sultan's  guest.  He  was 
whitewashed  by  the  courts,  but  the  Sultan  was  prevailed  upon  to 
invite  him  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  Medina  at  his  expense,  and  there 
spend  the  remainder  of  bis  days  in  religious  exercises. 


APPENDIX   B. 
U.  S.  CONSULATES  IN  EASTERN  TURKEY. 

The  following  petition  was  recently  presented  to  the  Hon.  Walter 
Q.  Gresham,  Secretary  of  State,  and  to  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America,  fur  the  establish- 
ment of  U.  S.  Consulates  at  Erzerum  and  Harpoot.  The  necessary 
legislation  has  been  promptly  enacted,  for  which  the  thanks  of  all 
Americans  in  Turkey  is  due  to  His  Excellency  the  President,  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  and  to  members  of  both  Houses  of  Congress. 

Washington,  D,  C,  Jan.  3,  1895. 
Apropos  to  the  recent  massacre  of  five  thousand  Armenians  in 
Turkey,  it  is  clearly  inexpedient  for  the  United  States  to  mix  up  in 
the  Eastern  Question.  But  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  duty  of  pro- 
tecting a  large  body  of  native  born  American  citizens  constantly  sub- 
jected to  danger,  injury  and  insult  in  that  land  is  not  complicated  by 
any  Monroe  Doctrine.  In  their  interests,  attention  is  called  to  this 
brief  statement  of  facts,  and  to  a  practical  request  for  consular  pro- 
tection. 

1.  Number  of  Individuals  and  Interests  Involved. 
Distributed  in  thirty  of  the  principal  cities  of  Asiatic  Turkey  alone, 

there  is  a  permanent  body  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  Americans,  not 
including  their  children,  who  hold  over  two  million  dollars  of  Ameri- 
can property  for  residence  and  the  use  of  their  educational,  medical, 
publishing  and  religious  enterprises. 

These  figures  do  not  cover  the  large  commercial  interests  of  Ameri- 
cans in  Turkey,  for  which  statistics  are  not  at  hand. 

2.  Nature  and  Extent  of  the  Danger  to  which  they 
are  Exposed. 

There  are  two  sources  of  danger :  first,  the  lawlessness  of  numerous 
highwaymen  who  infest  the  country,  and  of  the  fanatical  Moslem 

175 


I  "J^  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

population  of  the  cities ;  and  second,  the  hostility  of  Turkish 
officials,  who  have  repeatedly  failed  to  restrain,  and  in  some  cases 
have  even  encouraged  attacks  upon  the  lives  and  property  of  American 
citizens. 

3.    Evidence  of  this  Dangerous  Condition. 

So  far  back  as  June  29th,  i88t.  Secretary  Blaine,  in  official  instruc- 
tions to  Minister  Wallace  at  Constantinople,  wrote  : 

"  Your  attention  v/ill  doubtless  be  prominently  and  painfully 
drawn  to  the  insecurity  of  the  lives  and  property  of  foreign  travelers 
in  Turkey,  and  the  failures  of  the  authorities  to  prevent  or  repress 
outrages  upon  American  citizens  by  wayside  robbers  and  murderers, 
or  even  to  execute  its  own  laws  in  the  rare  instances  of  the  perpetra- 
tors of  such  outrages  being  brought  to  justice.  I  cannot  take  a  better 
text  on  which  to  base  this  instruction,  than  the  accompanying  copy 
of  a  letter  addressed  to  the  President  by  a  number  of  American  resi- 
dents in  Turkey.  Its  statements  are  known  to  be  entirely  within  the 
truth,  and  can  be  verified  abundantly  from  the  files  of  your  legation. 
They  show  in  simple  yet  forcible  language,  the  insecurity  of  traveling 
in  that  country,  and  the  instances  to  the  number  of  eight,  within  the 
past  two  years,  when  American  citizens  have  been  robbed  and 
beaten  by  lawless  marauders.  On  these  occasions  the  lives  of  the 
assailed  have  been  at  the  mercy  of  the  robbers  and,  in  one  instance 
at  least,  the  taking  of  life  preceded  the  robbery." — Foreign  Rela- 
tions of  the  United  States  i88r. 

The  above  extract  refers  to  outrages  in  Western  Asia  Minor  and 
the  vicinity  of  Constantinople,  but  it  is  well  known  that  in  the 
Eastern  and  interior  part  of  Turkey,  where  many  of  us  live,  the  in- 
security is  greater  and  has  steadily  increased,  dtiring  the  thirteen 
years  that  have  elapsed  since  the  above  facts  were  admitted  by  the  State 
Department. 

The  murderous  attack  by  a  Kurdish  chief  in  person,  which  nearly 
cost  Dr.  G.  C.  Raynolds,  of  Van  his  life,  and  for  which  no  indemnity 
was  ever  obtained,  though  the  assailant  was  positively  identified  in 
court,  is  reported  in  full  in  Foreign  Relations  of  the  United  States, 
1883,  1884,  and  1890. 

The  arrest  and  indignities  inflicted  upon  Mr.  Richardson  of  Erz- 
erum,  by  the  Governor-General,  for  which  no  apology  even  was  ever 
secured,  are  related  in  Foreign  Relations  of  the  United  States  iSgt. 

The  burning  of  Marsovaa  College  by  an  unrestrained  Turkish  mob 


Appendix.  i77 

and  the  danger  to  the  lives  of  many  American  residents  is  found  in 
Foreign  Relations  of  the  United  States  1893. 

More  cases  of  injury  and  insult,  may  be  found  in  the  same  official 
records.  But  in  many  other  instances  it  has  been  felt  to  be  useless 
and  inexpedient  to  even  report  them.  The  absence  of  any  American 
representative  to  substantiate  and  vindicate  our  rights  on  the  ground, 
and  the  hopelessness  of  securing  anything  but  further  injury  by  trying 
to  press  our  claims,  often  drives  us  to  the  humiliating  necessity  of 
suffering  injustice  with  scarcely  a  protest. 

THE    REQUEST. 

We  feel  that  the  condition  shown  by  the  above  evidence,  not  to 
add  more,  abundantly  justifies  a  renewed  request  for  some  Consular 
protection  in  the  Eastern  part  of  Turkey,  for  the  American  citizens 
permanetitly  residing  there  in  the  prosecution  of  lawful  pursuits. 
Our  present  exposed  and  helpless  condition  is  clearly  set  forth  in  a 
communication  from  the  United  States  Legation  at  Constantinople, 
to  the  State  Department :  "It  may  not  be  doubted  that  the  absence 
of  an  American  Consul  at  Erzroom  leaves  our  citizens  there  singularly 
destitute  of  means  to  vindicate  their  rights  and  protect  their  interests  ; 
this  is  the  more  regrettable  as  Erzroom  is  a  missionary  station  of  con- 
siderable importance,  and  situated  in  a  province  where  official  pro- 
tection is  most  frequently  and  urgently  needed.  The  British  Consul 
there  is  instructed  to  act  '  unofficially '  for  our  citizens,  but  his  right 
to  represent  them  is  not  recognized  by  the  Ottoman  authorities  ;  the 
obvious  consequence  is,  that  when  his  good  offces  are  most  needed,  they 
are  of  least  avail."     Foreign  Relations  of  United  States  1891. 

We  are  thus  seen  to  be  cut  off  from  Consular  protection  of  any 
kind.  The  nearest  U.  S.  Consul,  Mr,  Jewett  of  Sivas,  an  excellent 
man,  is  unavailable  for  us  for  three  reasons  :  first,  the  delay  and 
difficulty  in  communicating  with  him  on  account  of  our  isolation,  and 
the  very  circuitous  post-routes,  in  case  the  local  authorities  were  kind 
enough  not  to  intercept  our  letters,  as  they  have  repeatedly,  even  the 
official  correspondence  of  the  United  States  Minister  {Foreign  Re- 
lations of  the  U.  S.  1893);  second,  the  distance  and  methods  of 
travel  are  such  that  probably  from  one  to  two  months  would  elapse 
after  any  outrage,  before  the  Sivas  Consul  could  be  notified  and 
arrive;  thir>l,  the  Consul  at  Sivas  could  not  leave  his  post  without 
neglecting  the  large  American  interests  in  Asia  Minor. 

12 


lyS  The  Crisis  in  Turkey, 

Aside  from  being  needed  when  special  difficulties  do  occur,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  mere  presence  of  a  United  States  Consul  on  the 
ground  would  have  a  marked  effect  in  deterritig  both  the  lawless  and 
fanatical  elements,  and  the  officials,  who  have  never  seen  the  stars  and 
stripes,  from  repeating  acts  which  have  caused  much  injury  to  the 
interests  of  American  citizens,  and  have  been  the  occasion  of  tedious 
and  unpleasant  diplomatic  correspondence  between  the  two  countries. 
The  expense  of  living  in  Turkey  is  unusually  low. 

In  view  of  all  the  foregoing  facts,  it  is  urgently  requested  that 
American  Consuls  be  located  at  Erzerum  and  Harpoot.  These  cities 
are  large  centres  of  population  and  of  American  interests,  and  the 
seat  of  Provincial  Governors.  They  have  large  commercial  and 
strategic  importance,  and  as  good  facilities  for  communication  by 
post,  telegraph,  or  private  messenger  as  the  country  affords.  From 
Erzerum,  Bitlis  and  Van  could  also  be  cared  for,  while  Mardin  and 
Mosul  would  naturally  be  under  Ilarpoot,  and  thus  the  Americans  of 
that  whole  territory  would  be  brought  within  two  or  three  week's 
journey  of  Consular  protection. 

We  are  from  seven  hundred  to  one  thousand  miles  from  Constan- 
tinople, which  means  a  journey  of  three  to  six  weeks.  The  fact  that 
at  least  J,ooo  men,  women  and  children  in  our  midst  have  been  mas- 
sacred, and  this  fact  kept  nearly  three  months  from  the  civilized  world, 
is  a  significant  hint  as  to  our  isolation  and  danger.  The  articles  in 
the  last  Harper's  IVeekly,  Dec.  29,  and  in  the  Review  of  Reviews, 
Jan.  1895,  give  much  light  on  the  situation. 

"With  shame  it  must  be  recorded  that,  although  Congress,  in  Janu- 
ary, 1895,  authorized  United  States  consulates  at  Erzerum  and  Ilar- 
poot, the  Executive  branch  of  the  Government  has  failed  to  secure 
their  establishment.  Messrs.  Chilton  and  Hunter,  both  excellent 
men,  were  sent  to  Turkey  as  properly  accredited  consuls.  But  the 
Porte  refused  to  recognize  them,  and  the  United  States,  as  usual, 
swallowed  the  insult. 

This  course  so  emboldened  the  Turkish  Government,  that  it  pro- 
ceeded in  November,  1S95,  to  burn  and  bombard  the  important 
American  settlement  at  Harpoot. 

These  soon  followed  the  burning  of  an  American  building  in 
Marash. 

The  timid  and  tardy  manner  in  which  indemnity  is  now  being 
sought,  is  likely  to  lead  to  greater  insolence  by  Turkey,  and  the 
ultimate  ruin  of  American  interests  throughout  the  Empire. 


APPENDIX  C. 

DR.  Hamlin's  EXPUi^NATioN. 
(New   York  Herald,  December  20,  iSg^.J 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Herald  : 

A  cutting  from  the  Herald  has  been  sent  to  me  to-day  containing  a 
letter  of  His  Excellency,  Mavroyeni,  on  the  Armenian  atrocities.  I 
must  strongly  object  to  the  use  he  makes  of  a  letter  of  mine  in  the 
Boston  Congregalionalist  of  last  year  (December  23,  1893). 

The  object  of  that  letter  was  to  show  the  absurdity  of  the  revolu- 
tionary plotters.  The  Armenians  are  a  noble  race,  but  few  in  num- 
ber, scattered  and  unarmed.  The  Turkish  Government  has  never 
had  the  least  fear  of  any  such  movement.  It  knows  well  that  there  is 
no  place  in  the  Empire  where  one  thousand  or  even  one  hundred  Ar- 
menians could  assemble  with  hostile  intent.  And  besides  they  have 
no  arms,  and  they  are  not  accustomed  to  their  use.  They  would  be 
lambs  in  the  midst  of  wolves.  Every  one  knows  this  who  knows  any- 
thing of  Turkey  outside  of  Constantinople. 

It  is  to  be  greatly  regretted  that  the  Ottoman  Ambassador  should 
attempt  to  cover  up  the  path  of  these  horrid  atrocities  which  have 
agitated  the  whole  Christian  world  and  for  which  Turkey  must  give 
account-  It  were  far  better  to  deplore  the  fact  and  work  for  justice 
and  judgment.  It  may  be  the  time  has  passed  when  such  deeds  of 
blood  and  torture,  committed  upon  unarmed  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, can  be  condoned  by  the  civilized  world. 

The  plots  of  the  revolutionists  were  harmless  as  to  any  effective 
force,  but  were  very  pernicious  in  arousing  fanaticism.  The  fact 
that  a  few  hair-brained  young  men  in  foreign  lands  had  plotted  a  revo- 
lution was  a  sufficient  reason  in  the  view  of  Moslem  fanaticism  for 
devoting  the  whole  race  to  destruction.  It  was  this  which  I  feared 
and  it  is  this  which  has  happened. 

179 


i8o  The  Crisis  in  Turkey. 

Another  object  of  the  letter,  from  which  His  Excellency  has  quoted, 
was  to  draw  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  revolutionary  movement  is 
a  game  which  Russia  is  playing  in  her  own  interests.  And  she  has 
played  it  well.  She  has  again  caught  Turkey  in  her  trap.  The 
whole  civilized  world  will  now  approve  of  her  marching  in  with  force 
to  stop  the  slaughter  of  an  industrious,  peaceful,  unarmed  peasantry. 
If  Russia  enters,  it  will  be  with  professions  of  great  kindness  toward 
the  Sultan.  It  will  be  to  aid  him  in  his  well  known  benevolent  in- 
tentions in  the  government  of  his  Christian  subjects  !  But  she  will 
call  the  Armenians  to  her  standard  and  will  arm  and  train  them  and 
they  will  prove  a  brave  and  valiant  soldiery.  Some  of  the  ablest 
generals  of  the  Russian  army  have  been  Armenians.  Thus  armed 
and  trained,  with  the  aid  of  their  Russian  allies,  they  will  defend 
their  own  homes  in  the  Sassoun  or  any  other  district. 

Turkey  has  brought  this  upon  herself.  His  Excellency  is  a  Greek 
gentleman,  and  has  a  natural  sympathy  with  Russia.  His  influence 
has  been  to  magnify  the  revolutionary  plots  instead  of  showing,  as 
my  letter  did,  their  insignificance  and  their  Russian  character,  and 
has  led  his  government  to  give  to  them  an  importance  which  seems 
absurd.  The  Turkish  Government  has  had  sufficient  opportunity  to 
study  and  understand  Russia  since  the  Treaty  of  1829,  and  again  of 
1833.  Have  her  trusted  advisers  been  true  to  her,  or  have  they 
betrayed  her  interests  ? 

The  civilized  and  Christian  world  awaits  with  profound  and  fixed 
attention  the  solution  of  the  question  whether  bloody,  fanatical  vio- 
lence or  law  shall  reign  over  the  Eastern  regions  of  the  Turkish 
Empire. 

Cyrus  Hamlin. 

Lexington,  Mass.,  December  18,  1894. 


PART  II. 

THE  MOHAMMEDAN  REIGN  OF 
TERROR  IN  ARMENIA. 

CONTAININa   THE    LATEST  ACCOUNTS   OP   THE   MAS" 
SACRES ;   THRILLING  SPEECH  OF  THE  HON.  "W.  E. 
GLADSTONE  ;  RELIEF  "WORK  OF  CLARA  BAR- 
TON, DR.  GRACE  KIMBALL  AND  OTHERS  ; 
THE    HISTORY   OF    TURKEY;    MAN- 
NERS AND    CUSTOMS    OF  THE 
PEOPLE,  ETC.,  ETC. 


is; 


NOTE. 

To  guard  our  readers  against  the  prejudiced  and  often 
unfounded  statements  that  have  appeared  in  regard  to  Arme- 
nia, and  the  terrible  massacres  that  have  been  perpetratec 
there,  we  have  used  great  care  as  to  the  source  of  the  material 
here  presented,  and  desire  to  express  our  thanks  to  The  Inde- 
pendent for  much  valuable  information,  the  general  accuracy 
of  which  is  unquestioned. 


184 


CHAPTER  XIIl. 

Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

The  first  part  of  this  volume,  by  Frederick  Davis  Greene, 
M.  A.,  is  fully  endorsed  by  the  eminent  names  found  in  the 
first  chapter.  Dark  and  horrible  as  the  record  is,  it  does  not 
comprise  the  complete  story  of  those  deeds  of  pillage,  murder 
and  outrage  in  Armenia  which  have  shocked  the  whole  civil- 
ized world,  and  awakened  universal  horror  and  indignation. 
We  present  additional  details  of  these  bloody  massacres,  and 
also  trace  the  causes  which  led  to  the  recent  outbreak  of  Mo- 
hammedan fanaticism  and  crime. 

The  following  facts  are  indisputable :  The  Armenians,  in 
hundreds  of  cities  and  villages  throughout  an  area  five  hun- 
dred miles  long  and  three  hundred  miles  wide  have  been 
given  over  to  murder,  rape  and  robbery.  The  latest  trust- 
worthy estimates  from  Constantinople  place  the  actual  deaths 
at  40,000,  the  great  majority  being  males,  the  bread-winners 
of  the  people.  Of  the  survivors,  half  a  million  have  been 
reduced  to  extreme  poverty,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  thous- 
and, mostly  women  and  children,  are  in  danger  of  perishing 
from  starvation,  exposure  and  sickness,  unless  they  will 
accept  Mohammedanism. 

Misrepresentation  of  Pacts. 

Persistent  efforts  are  made  to  obscure  the  situation  and  to 

alienate  sympathy  from  the  Armenians  on  the  ground  that 

they  are  rebels.     Some  color  has  been  given  to  this  idea  by 

the  wild  talk  of  a  few  desperate  Armenians  outside  of  Turkey 

185 


186  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

but,  with  the  one  exception  of  the  isolated  and  inaccessible 
town  of  Zeitoun,  there  never  has  been  anything  that  can  be 
called  an  Armenian  insurrection.  The  very  idea  of  such  a 
thing  is  ridiculous ;  for,  in  the  first  place,  the  Armenians  are 
only  one-tenth  of  the  Sultan's  subjects,  and  nowhere  consti- 
tute a  majority  of  the  population  except  in  the  city  of  Van, 
where,  strange  to  say,  there  has  been  no  outbreak  at  all. 
Secondly,  they  are  exclusively  a  commercial  and  agricultural 
people,  possessing  neither  arms,  nor  a  knowledge  of  their  use. 
Third,  they  are  people  of  sense,  and  know  that  their  only  hope 
is  through  European  intervention. 

WJiy  then  have  they  been  massacred?  Because  Europe  did 
intervene  and  compel  the  Sultan  to  accept  a  Scheme  of  Re- 
forms which  would  give  the  Christians  equality  with  Moham- 
medans before  the  law,  and  a  proportionate  share  in  the 
judicial,  civil  and  police  administration  in  the  six  eastern 
provinces. 

Motive  of  the  Massacres. 

While  the  Sultan  outwardly  accepted  this  scheme,  he  could 
not  allow  its  execution  without  endangering  his  authority  as 
religious  head,  and  the  supremacy  of  the  Turks,  who  are  the 
ruling  class  ;  for  iji  principle  the  "  Infidel  "  has  no  right  to  live 
in  a  Mohammedan  State,  except  in  subjection,  and  in  practice 
the  active,  capable  Armenian  would  soon  outstrip  the  stolid, 
non-progressive  Turk  if  given  a  fair  chance.  The  only  course 
left,  from  the  Turkish  point  of  view,  was  to  diminish  and  par- 
alyze the  Armenian  population  to  such  an  extent  as  to  render 
the  Scheme  of  Reforms  inoperative.  This  was  immediately 
and  thoroughly  accomplished  within  one  month  after  the  Sul- 
tan gave  his  consent  to  the  Scheme  of  Reforms  on  October 
i6th,  1895. 

While  the  motive  of  the  massacres  at  first  was  politica:l, 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  18  T 

Moslem  fanaticism  and  hope  of  plunder  were  kindled,  and  this 
accounts  for  the  extremes  of  cruelty  and  brutality  with  which 
the  work  was  done.  But  now  that  it  has  been  accomplished, 
the  fires  of  race  hatred  and  lust  have,  to  some  extent,  burned 
themselves  out,  the  massacres  have  ceased,  and  "  order  "  will 
be  restored.  The  Crime  of  the  European  powers  consists  in 
not  having  guaranteed  the  successful  execution  of  the  reforms 
they  demanded  by  a  prompt  and  determined  use  of  force. 
This  would  have  prevented  all  bloodshed. 

Account  by  an  Eye-witness. 

The  following  description  of  the  present  condition  of  Arme- 
nia is  furnished  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Dillon,  the  special  Commissioner 
of  the  London  Daily  Telegraph.  It  is  the  account  given  by  a 
close  observer  who  has  been  upon  the  ground,  and  is  accurate 
and  truthful  in  all  its  horrifying  details : 

A  pretty  story  is  told  of  a  little  girl,  who,  fearing  to  lie  in 
bed  in  the  dark,  begged  her  mother  not  to  take  the  candle 
away  until  sleep  should  render  it  needless.  "  What  are  you 
afraid  of,  darling  ? "  asked  the  strong-minded  parent.  "  Of 
darkness,"  was  the  reply.  "  But  remember,  dear,  that  God  is 
here  in  the  room  with  you,  and  God  is  light  itself  He  will 
stay  with  you  all  night  to  keep  you  company."  The  silence 
that  followed  this  dogmatic  announcement  seemed  to  show 
that  the  intended  effect  had  been  produced,  until  it  was  softly 
broken  by  the  sweet  voice  of  the  child :  "  Then  please, 
mamma,  take  God  away  and  leave  the  candle. "  i 

The  attitude  of  the  Armenian  population  in  Turkey  toward 
the  humane  peoples  of  Western  Europe,  who,  to  fiendish  tor- 
tures and  bloody  massacres,  hopefully  oppose  well-timed 
expressions  of  righteous  indignation  and  moral  sympathy, 
offers  considerable  analogy  to  the  frame  of  mind  of  that  untu- 
tored child.     "  We  can  dispense  with  your  sympathy  and  pity 


EARLY  PORTRAIT  OF  ABDUL  HAMID,   SULTAN  OF  TURKEY. 
188 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  189 

if  only  you  guarantee  us  security  for  life  and  property."  So 
reasons  the  grateful  Armenian.  The  impartial  outsider,  ac- 
quainted with  the  horrible  condition  of  country  and  people, 
would  naturally  go  a  step  further,  and  fearlessly  affirm  that 
the  expression  of  s)'-mpathy  at  public  meetings,  followed,  as  in 
England,  by  supine  inactivity,  is  not  merely  inferior  to  effect- 
ive material  aid,  but  is  positively  disastrous. 

Turkish  Hatred  of  Armenians. 

Formerly  the  Turks  disliked  the  Armenians,  and  the  blood- 
bath of  Sassoun  offers  a  fair  indication  of  the  vehemence  of 
their  feeling.  At  present,  after  the  wanton  humiliation  in- 
flicted upon  them  by  the  European  friends  of  their  victims, 
they  loathe  the  very  name  of  Armenia,  and  deem  no  cruelties 
sufficient  to  satisfy  their  outraged  self-love.  The  Vali  (Gov- 
ernor-General) of  Erzeroum,  when  the  foreign  consuls  of  that 
city  lately  brought  an  unusually  crying  case  of  injustice  to  his 
notice,  told  the  Dragomans  that  the  Turkish  Government  and 
Armenian  people  stood  to  each  other  in  the  relation  of  hus- 
band and  wife,  and  that  outsiders  who  felt  pity  for  the  wife 
when  her  husband  maltreated  her,  would  do  wisely  and  well 
to  abstain  from  interfering.  And  the  remark  is  quite  true, 
if  the  pair  are  to  go  on  living  together  ;  for  the  brutal  husband 
can  always  choose  his  own  time  and  place  to  vent  his  feelings 
on  his  helpless  mate. 

And  this  is  what  is  being  actually  done  in  Turkish  Arme- 
nia. Under  the  eyes  of  the  Russian,  English,  and  French 
delegates  at  Moush,  the  witnesses  who  had  the  courage  to 
speak  the  truth  to  the  representatives  of  the  Powers  were 
thrown  into  prison,  and  not  a  hand  was  raised  to  protect 
them;  and  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  foreign  consuls  and 
missionaries,  loyal  Armenians  were  hung  up  by  the  heels,  the 
hair  of  their  heads  and  beards  plucked  out  one  by  one,  their 


190  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

bodies  branded  with  red-hot  irons  and  defiled  in  beastly  ways 
that  can  neither  be  described  nor  hinted  at  in  Christian  coun- 
tries, their  wives  dishonored  in  their  presence,  and  their 
daughters  raped  before  their  eyes.  And  all  that  the  philan- 
thropic English  nation  has  to  offer  these,  its  proteges,  is  elo- 
quent indignation  and  barren  sympathy.  Would  it  not  have 
been  much  more  benevolent  to  hush  up  the  massacre  of  Sas- 
soun  and  ignore  the  Pits  of  Death  than  to  irritate  the  Turk  to 
the  point  of  madness  and  then  leave  him  free  to  vent  his  fury 
upon  Christians  who  are  shielded  only  by  sentimental  elo- 
quence ? 

A  Costly  Blunder. 

And  yet  the  duty  of  England  is  simplicity  itself;  she 
should  either  put  a  speedy  end  to  the  horrors  of  Turkish  Da- 
homey, or  publicly  proclaim  her  inability  to  fulfil  her  obliga- 
tions in  Armenia,  at  the  same  time  repudiating  her  gigantic 
engagement  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  Turkish  Empire 
in  Asia.  For  as  it  was  a  grievous  blunder  to  raise  this  Ar- 
menian Question  without  having  first  made  sure  that  she 
could  work  it  out  to  a  satisfactory  issue,  it  is  little  less  than  a 
crime  to  give  the  Turks  the  needful  time  to  carry  out  their 
nefarious  plans  by  refusal  to  look  the  facts  in  the  face. 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  condition  of  the  five  prov- 
inces and  their  Christian  inhabitants  will  unhesitatingly  acqui- 
esce in  this  view  of  the  subject ;  for  those  who  are  not,  the 
following  brief  sketch  may  prove  instructive  : 

Turkey's  real  sway  in  Armenia  dates  from  the  year  1847, 
when  Osman  Pasha  gave  the  final  coup  de  grdce  to  the  secular 
power  of  the  Koordish  Derebeks  in  the  five  south-eastern 
provinces  (Van,  Bitlis,  Moush,  Bayazed,  and  Diarbekir), 
During  that  long  spell  of  nearly  fifty  years,  we  can  clearly 
distinguish  two  periods :  one  of  shameful  misgovernment 
(1847-1891),  and  the  other  (1892-1894)  of  frank  extermina- 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  191 

tion.  Suasion  or  remonstrance  may  do  much  to  remedy  the 
abuses  that  flow  from  the  former  system ;  force  alone  can 
achieve  anything  against  the  latter.  And  in  this  sense  Lord 
Salisbury's  expressed  view  of  the  matter  is  absolutely  correct. 
In  the  year  1891  the  Sublime  Porte,  fearing  serious  dangers 
from  the  promised  introduction  of  reforms  into  Armenia,  and 
from  the  anticipated  hostility  in  war  time  of  the  Christians 
living  in  provinces  bordering  upon  Russia,  resolved  to  kill 
two  birds  with  one  stone,  and  created  the  so-called  Hamidieb 
cavalry,  composed  exclusively  of  Koords.  It  was  an  applica- 
tion of  the  principle  on  which  rebels  and  rioters  throw  open 
the  prison  doors  and  invite  convicts  to  rob  and  kill  the  mem- 
bers of  the  upper  classes.  The  plan  as  propounded  by  some 
of  the  highest  officials  of  the  Empire  was  that  the  Armenians 
were  to  be  driven  out  of  the  border  lands,  such  as  Alashkerd, 
their  places  to  be  taken  by  Mohammedans,  that  their  numbers 
in  all  the  five  provinces  were  to  be  so  considerably  reduced 
that  the  need  of  special  reforms  for  them  should  pass  away, 
and  that  in  case  of  war  the  Koords  should  act  as  a  counter- 
weight to  the  Cossacks. 

Armenians  Threatened  with  Extermination. 

This  plain  policy  of  extermination  has  been  faithfully  carried 
out  and  considerably  extended  from  that  day  to  this,  and 
unless  speedily  arrested,  will  undoubtedly  lead  to  a  final  solu- 
tion of  the  Armenian  problem ;  but  a  solution  which  will 
disgrace  Christianity  and  laugh  civilization  to  scorn.  The 
enlisted  Koords  were  left  in  their  native  places,  exempted 
from  service,  supplied  with  arms,  invested  with  the  inviolability 
of  ambassadors,  and  paid  with  the  regularity  characteristic  of 
the  Sublime  Porte.  And  they  fulfilled  their  mission  with 
scrupulous  exactness :  robbing  rich  Armenians,  looting  houses, 
burning  corn  and  hay,  raiding  villages,  lifting  cattle,  raping 


192  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

young  girls  of  tender  age,  dishonoring  married  women,  driving 
away  entire  populations,  and  killing  all  who  were  manly  or 
mad  enough  to  attempt  to  resist.  Armenians  are  now  among 
the  poorest  and  most  wretched  people  on  the  globe. 

Perhaps  the  Turkish  authorities  did  not  foresee,  nor  Turkish 
justice  approve,  these  results?  The  authorities  not  only 
expected  them,  but  aided  and  abetted,  incited  and  rewarded 
those  who  actually  committed  them ;  and  whenever  an 
Armenian  dared  to  complain,  not  only  was  he  not  listened  to 
by  the  officials  whom  he  paid  to  protect  him,  but  he  was 
thrown  into  a  fetid  prison  and  tortured  and  outraged  in 
strange  and  horrible  ways  for  his  presumption  and  insolence. 

The  massacre  of  Sassoun  itself  is  now  proved  to  have  been 
the  deliberate  deed  of  the  representatives  of  the  Sublime 
Porte,  carefully  planned  and  unflinchingly  executed  in  spite 
of  the  squeamishness  of  Koordish  brigands  and  the  fitful 
gleams  of  human  nature  that  occasionally  made  themselves 
felt  in  the  hearts  even  of  Turkish  soldiers. 

To  complain,  therefore,  of  the  insecurity  of  life  and  property 
in  Armenia,  so  long  as  the  country  is  irresponsibly  governed 
by  the  Sublime  Porte,  is  as  reasonable  as  it  would  be  for  a 
soldier  to  object  to  the  great  danger  to  life  and  limb  from  the 
enemy's  bullets  during  a  sanguinary  engagement.  The  result 
complained  of  is  precisely  the  object  aimed  at,  and  its  com- 
pleteness the  most  conclusive  proof  of  the  efficiency  of  the 
means  employed.  An  eminent  foreign  statesman  who  is  com- 
monly credited  with  Turcophile  sentiments  of  uncompromis- 
ing thoroughness,  lately  remarked  to  me  in  private  conversa- 
tion that  Turkish  rule  in  Armenia  might  be  aptly  described 
as  organized  brigandage,  legalized  murder,  and  meritorious 
immorality. 

Protests  against  such  a  system  maybe  right  and  proper, 
but  the^?  can  hardly  be  considered  profitable.     A  philanthrr- 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia,  193 

pist  visiting  a  prison  may  feel  shocked  when  he  discovers  one 
of  the  convicts  with  his  hands  and  feet  tied  with  cords ;  but 
he  will  scarcely  spend  time  in  complaining  if  he  learns  that 
the  prisoner  has  been  condemned  to  death,  and  is  about  tc 
be  hanged  by  the  executioner. 

The  People  Reduced  to  Poverty. 

The  first  step  in  carrying  out  the  Plan  of  Extermination 
was  the  systematic  impoverishment  of  the  people.  This  is 
natural  in  a  country  whose  officials  are  kept  waiting  eight  or 
ten  months  for  their  salaries,  and  must  then  content  them- 
selves with  but  a  fraction  of  what  is  due.  "  I  have  not  re- 
ceived a  para  *  for  the  past  twenty  weeks,  and  I  cannot  buy 
even  clothes,"  exclaimed  the  official  who  was  told  off  to 
"  shadow  "  me  day  and  night  in  Erzeroum.  "  Do  they  pay 
you  your  salary  regularly?"  I  inquired  of  the  head  of  the 
telegraph  office  at  Kutek.  "  No,  Effendi,  not  regularly,"  he 
replied;  "  I  have  not  had  anything  now  for  fully  eight  months. 
Oh,  yes,  I  have;  a  month's  salary  was  given  to  me  at  Bairam."t 
"  How  do  you  manage  to  live,  then  ?"  "  Poorly."  "  But  you 
must  have  some  money  to  go  on  with,  or  else  you  could  not 
keep  body  and  soul  together?"  "  I  have  a  little,  of  course, 
but  not  enough.  Allah  is  good.  You  have  now  given  me 
some  money  yourself."  "  Yes,  but  that  is  not  for  you  ;  it  is 
for  telegrams,  and  belongs  to  the  State." 

**  Well,  my  shadow  will  have  grown  considerably  less  before 
the  State  beholds  the  gleam  of  it.  I  keep  for  myself  all  mone> 
paid  in  by  the  public.  I  take  it  as  instalments  of  my  salary. 
It  does  not  amount  to  very  much.  But  whatever  it  happens 
to  be,  I  pocket  it."  These  men  are,  of  course,  petty  officials, 
but  their  case   is  not  essentially  different  from  that  of  the 

*  A  Turkish  coin.     Fnrtv  pnras  nre  equivalent  to  twopence. 
\  Bairam  i.  tlie  ^c^li\;ll  which  fnllqws  the^  long  fast  ot  Ramazan. 


194  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

majority  of  their  betters,  and  judges,  officers,  deputy-governors, 
and  valis,  etc.,  are,  to  the  full,  as  impecunious  and  incompar- 
ably more  greedy. 

Tahsin  Pasha,  the  late  Governor-General  of  Bitlis,  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  the  high  Turkish  dignitary  of  the  epoch  of  exter- 
mination. An  avaricious  skinflint,  he  was  as  cruel  as  Ugolino's 
enemy,  Ruggieri,  and  as  cold  as  Captain  Malegor  in  Spenser's 
"  Faery  Queen."  He  cultivated  a  habit  of  imprisoning  scores 
of  wealthy  Armenians,  without  any  imputed  charge  or  show 
of  pretext.  Liberty  was  then  offered  them  in  return  for  exor- 
bitant sums  representing  the  greater  part  of  their  substance. 

Barbaric  Tortures. 

Refusal  to  pay  was  followed  by  treatment  compared  with 
which  the  torture  of  the  Jews  in  mediaeval  England,  or  the 
agonies  of  the  eunuchs  of  the  princesses  of  Oude  in  modern 
India,  were  mild  and  salutary  chastisements.  Some  men  were 
kept  standing  up  all  day  and  night,  forbidden  to  eat,  drink  or 
move.  If  they  lost  strength  and  consciousness,  cold  water  or 
hot  irons  soon  brought  them  round,  and  the  work  of  coercion 
continued. 

Time  and  perseverance  being  on  the  side  of  the  Turks,  the 
Armenians  generally  ended  by  sacrificing  everything  that 
made  life  valuable,  for  the  sake  of  exemption  from  maddening 
pain.  It  was  a  case  of  sacrificing  or  being  sacrificed,  and  that 
which  seemed  the  lesser  of  the  two  evils  was  invariably  chosen. 

In  the  Vilayet  of  Bitlis  several  hundred  Armenians  who 
possessed  money,  cattle  or  crops,  were  arbitrarily  imprisoned, 
and  set  free  on  the  payment  of  large  bribes.  Some  of  them, 
unable  to  produce  the  money  at  once,  were  kept  in  the  noisome 
dungeons  until  they  raised  the  sum  demanded,  or  were  re- 
leased by  death.  About  one  hundred  Armenian  prisoners 
died  in  the  prison  of  Bitlis  alone. 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 


195 


The  following  petition  signed  and  sent  to  me — and  if  I  mis- 
take not,  also  to  the  foreign  delegates  at  Moush — from  a  well- 
known  man  whose  name  and  address  I  publish,  will  help  to 
convey  some  idea  of  how  the  Vali  of  Bitlis  governed  his 
province,  and  prospered  the  v/hile  :  "  We,  who  have  served  the 
Turkish  Government  with  absolute  loyalty,  are  maltreated 
and  oppressed,  more  particularly  of  late  years,  now  by  the 


PALACE  OF  THE  SULTAN — CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Government  itself,  now  by  Koordish  brigands.  Thus  last 
year  (1894)  I  was  suddenly  arrested  at  my  own  house  by 
Turkish  police  and  gendarmes,  who  escorted  me  to  the  prison 
of  Bitlis,  where  I  was  insulted  and  subjected  to  the  most  hor- 
rible tortures.  Having  been  kept  four  months  there,  I  was 
released  on  condition  of  paying  1^2250,  by  way  of  ransom. 

"  No  reason,  no  pretext  has  been  given  for  this  treatment. 
On  my  return  home,  I  found  my  house  in  disorder,  my  affairs 


196  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

ruined,  my  means  gone.  My  first  thought  was  to  appeal  to 
the  Turkish  Government  for  redress,  but  I  shrank  from  doing 
so,  lest  I  should  be  condemned  again.  Hearing  that  you 
have  come  to  Armenia  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the 
condition  of  the  people,  I  venture  to  request  you,  in  God's 
name,  to  take  notice  of  the  facts  of  my  case.  Signed,  Boghos 
Darmanian,  of  the  village  of  Iknakhodja  of  the  Kaza  of 
Manazkerd." 

From  Wealth  to  Want. 

In  1890,  the  village  elder  of  Odandjor  in  Boolanyk,  Abdal 
by  name,  was  a  wealthy  man,  as  wealth  goes  in  that  part  of 
the  world.  He  possessed  50  buffaloes,  80  oxen,  600  sheep, 
besides  horses,  etc.  The  women  of  his  family  wore  golden 
ornaments  in  their  hair  and  on  their  breast,  and  he  paid  ;^250 
a  year  in  taxes  to  the  treasury.  That  was  in  1890.  In  1894 
he  was  a  poverty-stricken  peasant,  familiar  with  misery  and 
apprehensive  of  death  from  hunger. 

His  village  and  those  of  the  entire  district  had  been  plun- 
dered, and  the  inhabitants  stripped,  so  to  say,  naked,  the 
Turkish  authorities  smiling  approval  the  while.  During  the 
year  1894,  in  the  districts  of  Boolanyk  and  Moush  alone, 
upwards  often  thousand  head  of  cattle  and  sheep  were  driven 
off  by  the  Koords. 

This  was  the  method  in  vogue  all  over  the  country;  the 
details  varied  according  to  the  condition  of  things,  places,  and 
kinglets,  but  the  means  and  end  never  varied.  The  result  is 
the  utter  disappearance  of  wealth  and  the  rapid  spread  of 
misery,  so  intense,  so  irremediable,  so  utterly  loathsome  in  its 
moral  and  physical  effects  as  to  have  inspired  some  of  its 
victims  with  that  wild  courage  akin  to  madness  which  always 
takes  its  rise  in  despair. 

Between  the  Vali  or  Governor-General  and  the  Zaptieh  or 
tajc-gatherer  the  rungs  of  the  administrative  ladder  are  many, 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  197 

and  to  each  and  all  of  them  some  portion  of  the  substance  of 
industrious  Armenians  adheres.  No  doubt  there  are  far  worse 
things  than  the  loss  of  one's  property,  and  unemotional  Eng- 
lishmen would  rather  save  their  sympathy  for  those  who  have 
endured  them. 

But  surely  even  that  is  bad  enough  when  the  outcome  not 
of  crime,  accident,  or  carelessness,  but  of  shameless  and 
defiant  injustice,  and  where  the  loser  has  a  family  of  some 
fifteen  to  twenty  persons.  And  that  the  loss  of  property  very 
often  entailed  far  greater  losses  will  be  evident  from  some  of 
the  following  facts  : 

A  Tale  of  Horror. 

In  July,  1892,  a  captain  of  his  Majesty's  Hamidieh  Cavalry, 
Idris  by  name,  an  ornament  of  the  Hassnanlee  tribe,  came 
with  his  brother  to  demand  a  contribution  of  fodder  from  the 
inhabitants  of  Hamsisheikh.  They  accosted  two  of  the 
Armenian  notables,  Alo  and  Hatchadoor,  and  ordered  them 
to  provide  the  hay  required.  "  We  do  not  possess  such  a 
quantity  in  the  whole  village,"  they  replied.  "  Produce  the 
hay  without  more  ado,  or  I'll  shoot  you  dead,"  exclaimed 
Idris,  "  But  it  does  not  exist,  and  we  cannot  create  it." 
"  Then  die,"  said  the  gallant  captain,  and  shot  them  dead  on 
the  spot. 

A  formal  complaint  was  lodged  against  Idris,  and  the 
Kaimakam,  to  his  credit,  arrested  him  and  kept  him  in  prison 
for  four  weeks,  when  the  valiant  Koord  having  paid  the  usual 
bribe  was  set  at  liberty.  About  thirty  similar  murders  were 
committed  in  the  same  district  of  Boolanyk  during  that  sea- 
son, with  the  same  publicity  and  the  same  impunity. 

At  first  the  Armenians  were  wont  to  complain  when  their 
relatives  or  friends  were  killed,  in  the  hope  that  in  some  cases 
the  arm  of  the    law  might  be  raised  to  punish  the  murderers 


198 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 


and  thus  produce  a  deterrent  effect  upon  others  who 
might  feel  disposed  to  go  and  do  likewise.  But  they  were 
very  soon  weaned  of  this  habit,  by  methods  the  nature  of 
which  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  incident : 

In  July,  1892,  a  Koord  named  Ahmed  Ogloo  Bahal  rode 
over  to  Govandook  (District  of  Khnouss)  and  drove  off  four 


CATHEDRAL  (NOW  THE  MOSQUE)  OF  ST.    SOPHIA,    CONSTANTINOPLE. 

oxen  belonging  to  an  Armenian  named  Mookho.  In  1892  the 
law  forbidding  Christians  to  carry  arms  was  not  yet  strictly 
observed,  and  Mookho,  possessing  a  revolver,  and  seeing  that 
the  Koord  was  about  to  use  his,  fired.  Both  weapons  went 
off  at  once,  and  both  men  fell  dead  on  the  spot.  What  then 
happened  was  this  :  Nineteen  Armenians  of  the  village,  none 
of  whom  had  any  knowledge  of  what  had  occurred,  were 
arrested  and  put  in  jail  and  told  that  they  would  be  released 
on  payment  of  a  heavy  bribe.     Ten  paid  it  and  were  set  free 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  19& 

at  once.     The  remainder,  refusing,  were  kept  in  prison  for  a 
long  time  afterwards.     None  of  the  Koords  were  molested. 

"Why  should  Mohammedans  be  punished  for  killing 
Armenians  ?"  asked  a  Koordish  brigand  who  was  also  a 
Hamidieh  officer,  of  me.  "  It  is  unheard  of"  Why  indeed  ? 
That  the  relatives  of  the  murdered  people  should  be  punished 
and  punished  severely  for  complaining  of  those  who  have 
made  them  widows  or  orphans  seems  meet  and  proper  to  the 
Mohammedan  mind — perhaps  because  it  is  usual. 

Incidents  of  Cruelty. 

lu  August,  1893,  the  Djibranlee  Koords  attacked  the  vil- 
lage of  Kaghkik,  plundered  it,  and  wounded  a  merchant 
named  Cannes,  who  was  engaged  in  business  in  his  shop. 
Next  day  Cannes  went  to  the  Deputy  Governor  (Kaimakam) 
in  Khnoussaberd  and  lodged  a  complaint,  whereupon  the 
Kaimakam  put  him  in  prison  for  "  lying."  The  sufferings  in- 
flicted upon  him  in  that  hotbed  of  typhoid  fever  exceeded 
belief — but  that  is  another  story. 

After  eight  days  his  neighbors  brought  a  Koord  before  the 
Kaimakam  who  bore  out  their  evidence  that  Cannes  had  been 
really  wounded  in  the  manner  described,  and  that  he  was  not 
lying.  Then,  and  then  only,  the  authorities  allowed  the  peo- 
ple to  pay  a  bribe  of  ten  pounds  for  the  release  of  the 
wounded  man. 

The  inhabitants  of  Krtaboz  (a  village  in  Bassen,)  told  me 
several  horrible  stories  of  what  they  had  to  endure  lately 
from  the  Koords,  who  drove  off  their  twenty-three  oxen, 
twenty-eight  horses,  sixty  cows,  and  twenty  sheep.  Cne 
which  illustrates  the  method  of  Turkish  justice  will  suffice  to 
give  the  reader  an  inkling  of  their  nature. 

"  Last  May  (1894)  twelve  mounted  Hamidiehs  attacked 
our  village  and  seized  our  priest,  Der  David.     They  promised 


200  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

to  release  him  if  he  paid  them  six  pounds.  He  borrowed  the 
sum,  gave  it  to  his  captors  and  w.;s  set  free.  The  troops  fired 
upon  the  other  villagers,  who  ran  away.  Next  day  Guil  Beg 
went  to  Hassankaleh  to  complain  to  the  authorities.  They 
abused  him,  called  him  a  liar,  and  ordered  him  to  be  impris- 
oned. After  having  spent  forty  days  in  the  horrible  hole 
called  a  prison,  he  was  permitted  to  pay  a  bribe  of  seven 
pounds  and  go  home." 

No  Protection  to  Christians. 

There  is_  no  redress  whatever  for  a  Christian  who  has  suf- 
rered  in  property,  limb,  or  life  at  the  hands  of  Mohammedans ; 
not  because  the  law  officers  are  careless  or  lethargic,  but  be- 
cause they  are  specially  retained  on  the  other  side.  And  the 
proof  of  this,  if  any  proof  were  needed,  is  that  the  complain- 
ants themselves  are  speedily  punished  for  lodging  an  informa- 
tion against  their  persecutors.  But  whenever  a  Koord  or  a 
Turk  is  the  victim  of  a  "  crime,"  or  even  an  accident,  the 
energy  of  the  Government  officials  knows  no  bounds.  In  the 
spring  of  last  year,  when  the  snows  were  thawing  and  the  waters 
rose  high  in  the  rivers  and  streams,  some  needy  Koords  were 
moving  along  the  bank  of  the  river,  hard  by  Hussnaker. 

They  were  wretched  beggars,  asking  alms,  and  battling 
with  fate.  In  an  attempt  to  ford  the  river  they  were  carried 
away  and  drowned.  Forthwith  the  villagers  were  accused  of 
having  murdered  them,  and  four  Armenian  notables  were 
arrested  and  imprisoned  in  Hassankaleh  on  this  trumpery 
charge,  the  real  object  of  which  was  not  disguised.  After 
the  lapse  of  seven  or  eight  months  the  villagers  were  told  that 
on  payment  of  a  bribe  of  ;^375  the  prisoners  would  be  dis- 
charged. The  money  had  to  be  scraped  together  and  paid  to 
the  authorities,  whereupon  the  men  were  released.  I  saw  two 
of  them,  Atam  and  Dono,  myself. 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 


^m 


The  taxes  levied  upon  Armenians  are  exorbitant ;  the  bribes 
that  invariably  accompany  them,  and  are  imposed  by  the  Zap- 
tiehs,  may  swell  to  any  proportions,  and  resume  the  most 
rf^pugnant  forms,  while  the  methods  employed  to  collect  both 
constitute  by  them- 
selves a  sufficient  justi- 
fication for  the  sweep- 
ing away  of  Ottoman 
rule  in  Armenia. 

To  give  a  fair  in- 
stance of  the  different 
rates  of  taxation  for 
Christians  and  Mo- 
hammedans in  towns, 
it  will  suffice  to  point 
out  that  in  Erzeroum, 
where  there  are  8,000 
Mohammedan  houses, 
the  Moslems  pay  only 
395,000  piastres,  while 
the  Christians,  whose 
houses  number  but 
2,000,  pay  430,000  pi- 
astres. 

In  the  country  dis- 
tricts, everything,  with  marrle  staircase  in  the  sultan's  pal- 
out  exception,  is  highly  ^^^^  at  Constantinople. 

tixed  by  the  Government,  and  the  heaviest  burden  of  this 
legal  exaction  is  light  when  compared  with  the  extortion 
practiced  by  its  agents,  the  Zaptiehs.  A  family,  for  instance, 
is  supposed  to  contribute,  say,  twenty-five  dollars,  and  fulfils 
its  obligation.  The  Zaptiehs,  however,  ask  for  fifteen  or 
twenty  dollars  more  for  themselves,  and  are  met  with  a  rash 


202  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

refusal.  Negotiations,  interlarded  with  violent  and  abusive 
language,  ensue,  and  five  dollars  are  accepted.  But  the  Zap- 
tiehs'  blood  is  up. 

In  a  week  they  return  and  demand  the  same  taxes  over 
again.  The  Armenians  wax  augry,  protest  and  present  their 
receipt;  whereat  the  Zaptiehs  laughingly  explain  that  the 
document  in  question  is  no  receipt  but  a  few  verses  from  a 
Turkish  book.  The  villagers  plead  poverty  and  implore 
mercy.  Greed,  not  compassion,  moves  the  Zaptiehs  to  com- 
promise the  matter  for  fifteen  dollars  more,  but  the  money  is 
not  forthcoming. 

Then  they  demand  the  surrender  of  the  young  women  and 
girls  of  the  family  to  glut  their  brutal  appetites,  and  refusal 
is  punished  with  a  series  of  tortures  over  which  decency  and 
humanity  throw  a  veil  of  silence.  Rape,  and  every  kind  of 
brutal  outrage  conceivable  to  the  diseased  mind  of  Oriental 
profligates,  and  incredible  to  the  average  European  intelli- 
gence, varied  perhaps  with  murder  or  arson,  wind  up  the 
incident. 

These  are  Facts. 

I  have  seen  and  spoken  with  victims  of  these  representa- 
tives of  the  Sublime  Porte ;  I  have  inspected  their  wounds, 
questioned  their  families,  interrogated  their  priests,  their  per- 
secutors, and  their  gaolers  (some  of  them  being  incarcerated 
for  complaining),  and  I  unhesitatingly  affirm,  not  merely  that 
these  horrors  are  real  facts,  but  that  they  are  frequent  occur- 
rences. 

The  following  is  the  translation  of  an  authentic  document 
in  my  possession,  signed  and  sealed  by  the  inhabitants  of 
Melikan  (Kaza  of  Keghi),  addressed  recently  to  his  Beatitude, 
the  learned  and  saintly  Metropolitan  Archbishop  of  Erze- 
roum,  a  dignitary  who  enjoys  the  respect  and  esteem  of  friends 
and  foes : 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  203 

"  For  a  long  time  past  the  four  or  five  Zaptiehs  charged 
with  the  collection  of  the  imperial  taxes  have  chosen  our 
village  for  their  headquarters,  and  compel  the  inhabitants  of 
the  outlying  country  to  come  hither  to  pay  their  contribu- 
tions. They  eat,  drink,  and  feed  their  horses  at  our  expense, 
undisguisedly  showing  that  they  are  resolved  to  reduce  us  to 
beggary. 

"  Lately  seven  other  Zaptiehs,  who  had  not  even  the  pre- 
text of  collecting  the  taxes,  entered  our  village,  beat  the 
inhabitants,  insulted  the  Christian  religion,  and  dishonored 
our  wives  and  daughters,  after  which  they  seized  three  men 
who  protested — Boghos,  Mardig,  and  Krikor — bound  them 
wiih  a  twofold  chain,  and  hung  them  up  by  the  feet  from  the 
rafters.  They  left  them  in  this  position  until  the  blood  began 
to  flow  from  their  nostrils.  These  poor  men  fell  ill  in  conse- 
quence. The  Zaptiehs,  however,  declared  publicly  that  they 
had  treated  the  people  thus  merely  in  obedience  to  the  special 
orders  of  the  chief  of  the  police. 

"  We  therefore  appeal  to  imperial  justice  to  rescue  us  from 
this  unbearable  position.  The  inhabitants  of  the  village  of 
Melikan,  Kaza  of  Keghi. 

(Signed)  Katshere. 

"26th  March,  1895." 

Here  is  another  petition  from  another  village  of  the  same 
Kaza,  likewise  addressed  to  the  Metropolitan  Archbishop  of 
Erzeroum  : 

"  A  number  of  Zaptiehs,  on  pretext  of  gathering  the  taxes, 
rode  into  our  village  at  five  o'clock  Turkish  time  (about  ten 
o'clock  A.  M.),  broke  open  the  doors  of  our  dwellings,  entered 
the  inner  apartments,  clutched  our  wives  and  children,  who 
were  in  a  state  of  semi-nudity,  and  cast  them  into  the  road 
along  with  the  couches  on  which  they  lay. 

*'  Then  they  beat  and  maltreated  them  most  cruelly.  Finally 
they  selected  over  thirty  of  our  women,  shut  them  up  in  a 
barn,  and  wrought  their  criminal  will  upon  them.  Before 
leaving  they  took  all  the  food  and  fodder  we  possessed,  as  is 


204  Appallitig  Condition  of  Armenia. 

their  invariable  custom.     We  beg  to  draw  your  attention  to 
these  facts,  and  to  implore  the  imperial  clemency.     The  in- 
habitants of  the  village  of  Arek,  Kaza  of  Keghi. 
(Signed) 

MooRADiAN,  Ressian,  Berghoyan,  Melkonian. 
"  26th  March,  1895." 

I  was  present  myself  in  the  house  of  an  Armenian  peasant, 
of  the  Village  of  Kipri  Kieu,  when  a  number  of  mounted  Zap- 
tiehs  arrived,  woke  up  the  inmates,  and  insolently  demanded 
food  for  themselves,  barley  for  their  horses,  and  couches  for 
the  night.  What  more  they  would  have  called  for  I  am  not 
prepared  to  say;  but  I  extricated  my  host  from  the  difficulty 
by  refusing  them  admittance  on  the  ground  that  I  had  hired 
the  house  for  the  night.  No  wonder  that  the  peasants  of  the 
District  of  Khnouss  complain,  in  the  petition  which  they  asked 
me  to  lay  before  "the  noble  and  humane  people  of  England," 
"  that  the  once  prosperous  and  fertile  country  is  now  deserted, 
waste  and  desolate." 

Armenians  not  the  Aggressors. 

These,  then,  are  the  horrors  which  are  connoted  by  the 
phrase  so  flippantly  uttered  by  certain  enlightened  English 
people :  "  These  Armenians  and  Koords  are  eternally  quarrel- 
ing, and  a  little  bloodshed  more  or  less  would  not  seem  se- 
riously to  affect  the  general  average."  It  is  true  enough  in 
the  sense  in  which  it  is  correct  to  say  that  sheep  and  wolves 
ire  perpetually  at  war  with  each  other,  and  in  this  sense  only. 

The  Armenians  are  naturally  peaceful  in  all  places,  passion- 
ately devoted  to  agriculture  in  the  country,  and  wholly  ab- 
sorbed by  mercantile  pursuits  in  the  towns.  Lest  their  in- 
born aversion  to  bloodshed,  however,  should  be  overcome  by 
the  impulse  of  duty,  the  instinct  of  self-defense,  or  deep-rooted 
affection  for  those  near  and  dear  to  them,  they  are  forbidden 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  205 

to  possess  arms,  and  the  tortures  that  are  inflicted  on  the  few 
who  disregard  this  law  would  bring  a  blush  to  the  cheek  of  a 
countryman  of  Confucius.  They  must  rely  for  protection  ex- 
clusively upon  the  Turkish  soldiers  and  the  Turkish  law. 
Khozro,  a  well-to-do  inhabitant  of  Prkhooss,  near  Lake  Nazig 
(District  of  Akhlat),  was  a  lucky  exception.  True,  he  did  not 
exactly  possess  a  gun,  but  he  was  suspected  of  having  one. 
His  house  was  searched,  the  floor  dug  up,  the  roof  examined, 
in  vain.  Then  he  was  imprisoned  for  a  month,  and  allowed 
to  purchase  his  liberty  by  paying  ^350  in  gold,  and  signing  a 
paper  to  the  effect  that  he  never  had  fire-arms  of  any  kind. 

The  nature  of  the  protection  afforded  by  the  Imperial  troops 
was  sufficiently  clearly  revealed  last  August  and  September  on 
the  slopes  of  Frfrkar  and  the  heights  of  Andok,  in  the  hamlets 
of  Dalvorik,  and  in  the  valley  of  Ghellyegoozan.  The  villages 
of  Odandjor,  Hamzasheikh,  Kakarloov  Kharagyul,  flourishing 
and  prosperous  in  1890-1891,  did  not  contain  one  sheep,  one 
buffalo,  one  horse  in  1894. 

Reduced  to  Ashes. 

The  stables  were  all  tenantless,  the  stalls  all  empty,  and 
the  ashes  of  seventy  enormous  stacks  of  corn  told  the  rest  of 
the  tale.  This  was  the  congenial  work  of  the  Koords,  whose 
friends,  the  Turkish  troops,  were  quartered,  to  the  number  of 
200  horse  soldiers  in  Yondjalee,  half  an  hour  distant  from 
Odandjor,  200  in  Kop,  and  lOO  in  Shekagoob.  The  protec- 
tion which  they  afforded  was  given  to  the  Koords,  and  the 
reward  they  received  was  a  share  in  the  spoils. 

The  protection  given  by  Turkish  law  is  of  a  like  nature, 
only  incomparably  more  disastrous  to  those  Armenians  who 
venture  to  have  recourse  to  it.  Two  or  three  instances, 
vouched  for  by  a  host  of  witnesses,  verified  by  foreign  con- 
suls, a,nd  authenticated  by  official  documents,  will  t'lroiv  light 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  207 

enough  for  all  practical  purposes  upon   the   strange   forms 
assumed  by  Turkish  justice  in  the  provinces  of  Armenia. 

Kevork  Vartanian,  of  the  village  of  Mankassar  (Sandjak  of 
Alashkerd),  testified,  among  other  things,  as  follows  :  "  In 
1892,  a  Koord,  Andon  by  name,  son  of  Kerevash  (of  the 
tribe  of  Tshalal),  came  with  his  comrades  to  my  house  and 
took  five  pounds  in  gold  belonging  to  me,  which  I  had  saved 
up  to  buy  seed  corn  with.  I  lodged  a  complaint  against 
him,  but  the  authorities  dismissed  me  with  contempt.  Andon^ 
hearing  of  my  attempt  to  have  him  punished,  came  one 
night  with  twelve  men,  stood  on  our  roof,  and,  looking  down 
through  the  aperture,  fired. 

A  Tale  of  Horror. 

"  My  daughter-in-law,  Yczeko,  struck  by  a  bullet,  fell  dead. 
Her  two  boys  and  my  child  Missak  (two  years  old)  likewise 
lost  their  lives  then  and  there.  Then  the  Koords  entered  the 
apartments  and  took  my  furniture,  clothing,  four  oxen  and 
four  cows.*  I  hastened  to  the  village  of  Karakilisse  and 
complained  to  Rahim  Pasha.  Having  lieard  my  story,  he 
said  :  *  The  Hamadieh  Koords  are  the  Sultan's  warriors.  To 
do  thus  is  their  right.  You  Armenians  are  liars.'  And  we 
were  imprisoned.  Wc  did  not  obtain  our  release  until  we  had 
paid  two  pounds  in  gold. 

"  The  following  winter  two  hundred  soldiers  entered  our 
village  under  the  leadership  of  Rahim  Pasha  himself  He  at 
once  told  us  that  it  was  illegal  to  complain  of  the  doings  of 
the  Koords.  Then  he  quartered  himself  and  his  troops  upon 
I.S,  and  demanded  daily  eight  sheep,  ten  measures  of  barley, 
besides  eggs,  poultry  and  butter. 

*  Cows,  horses,  ecc,  are  frequently  lodged  in  the  apartment  in  which 
the  inmates  li"e  and  sleep.  I  have  passed  many  a  restless  night  in  a 
spacious  »-corn  aJor.^  with  horses,  buffaloes,  oxen,  sheep  and  goats. 


208  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

"  Forty  days  running  our  village  supplied  these  articles  of 
food  gratis,  receiving  curses  and  blows  for  our  pains.  Rahini 
Pasha,  angry  with  his  host.  Pare,  for  grumbling,  had  a  copper 
vessel  hung  over  the  fire,  and,  when  heated,  ordered  it  to  be 
placed  on  Piire's  head.  Then  he  had  him  stripped  naked  and 
little  bits  of  flesh  nipped  out  of  his  quivering  arms  with 
pincers. 

"  These  ruffians  had  scarcely  quitted  our  village  when  Aipe 
Pasha  with  sixty  horsemen  took  their  places.  Seeing  that 
there  were  no  more  sheep  to  be  had  in  the  village,  they 
slaughtered  and  ate  our  cows  and  oxen,  and  having  inflicted 
much  suffering  upon  us  during  six  days,  they  too  left.  To 
whom  could  we  address  our  complaints,  seeing  that  the 
legally  constituted  authorities  themselves  perpetrated  these 
things?  Nothing  was  left  for  us  but  to  quit  the  country, 
which  we  did." 

A  Raid  by  Koords. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1890,  the  village  of  Alidjikrek  was 
the  scene  of  a  double  crime.  The  Armenian  shepherds  who 
were  tending  the  flocks  of  the  villagers  rushed  in  ex(  itedly 
asking  for  help.  "  The  Koords  of  Ibil  Ogloo  Ibrahim  came 
up  with  their  sheep  and  drove  us  out  of  the  village  pastures." 
It  was  one  of  the  commonplaces  of  village  life  in  Turkish 
Armenia,  Four  young  men  set  out  to  reason  with  the  Mos- 
lems and  assert  the  rights  of  property;  but  scarcely  had  thty 
reached  the  ground,  when  the  Koords  opened  fire  and  killed 
one  of  the  youths,  named  Hossep,  on  the  spot. 

Another  fell  mortally  wounded ;  his  name,  Haroothioon. 
Their  comrades  fled  in  horror  to  the  village;  the  people,  dis- 
mayed, abandoned  their  work  ;  the  parish  priest  and  several 
of  the  principal  inhabitants  ran  to  the  scene  of  the  murder, 
others  rode  off  to  inform  the  gendarmes. 

The   Zaptiehs   (gendarmes),   accompanied   by  an    official, 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  209; 

were  soon  on  the  spot.  They  found  Hossep  dead,  and  the 
parish  priest,  Der  Ohannes,  administering  the  last  consola- 
tions of  religion  to  the  dying  Haroothioon.  They  ordered 
the  prayers  to  cease  and  menacingly  asked,  "  Where  are  the 
Koordish  murderers  ?  "  "  They  have  fled,"  was  the  reply. 
"  Indeed ;  probably  you,  dogs,  have  killed  them,  and  buried 
them  out  of  sight.  You  are  all  my  prisoners."  .  (Turning  to 
the  priest.)  "  You,  too,  come !  "  And  they  were  all  taken 
to  Hassankaleh  and  thrown  into  the  loathsome  dungeon 
there.  After  a  time  they  were  transferred  to  the  prison  of 
Erzeroum, 

Systematic  Extortion. 

The  parish  priest,  Der  Ohannes,  was  a  well-to-do  man. 
The  process  of  systematic  impoverishment  was  then  only 
beginning.  His  brother,  Garabed,  and  their  ten  comrades  in 
misfortune,  were  likewise  men  of  substance,  and  it  seemed 
desirable  to  the  officials  that  their  property  should  change 
hands.  They  were  left,  therefore^  to  soak  in  the  fetid  vapors 
of  a  reeking  Eastern  prison-house. 

The  time  dragged  slowly  on,  day  by  day,  week  by  week, 
and  month  by  month,  till  they  seemed  to  have  been  completely 
forgotten.  Their  families  were  in  an  endless  agony  of  fear, 
their  affairs  were  utterly  neglected,  their  health  was  wholly 
undermined.  In  this  pandemonium  they  passed  a  year — the 
most  horrible  period  of  their  lives. 

Then  they  humbly  besought  their  persecutors  to  help  them 
to  their  liberty  and  to  name  the  price.  The  terms  were 
agreed  to,  and  they  were  advised  to  send  Koords  to  hunt  u|) 
traces  of  the  Koordish  murderers  whom  they  were  accused  of 
having  murdered  in  turn.  "  If  they  be  found  you  will  be  set 
free."  The  cost  of  this  advice  and  of  the  ways  and  means  of 
carrying  it  out  amounted  to  about  ^2000,  which  the  prisoners 
were  compelled  to  borrow  at  40  per  cent,  interest. 


210 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  211 

The  search  was  of  course  successful,  Koordish  and  Turkish 
assassins,  when  their  victims  are  Christians,  having  no  need 
to  hide  their  persons,  no  motive  to  hang  their  heads.  What 
they  do  is  well  done.  These  particular  heroes  were  found 
enrolled  in  a  battalion  of  his  Majesty's  favorite  cavalry — the 
Hamidieh  of  Alashkerd.  They  confessed  and  did  not  deny  ; 
a  cloud  of  witnesses — Turks  and  Koords  of  course.  Christians 
being  disqualified — testified  in  court  in  favor  of  the  twelve 
Armenian  prisoners,  who  were  then  set  at  liberty,  with  ruined 
fortunes  and  broken  health. 

Murderers  Escape. 

The  sentence  of  the  court  set  forth  that  the  Armenians, 
charged  with  the  crime  of  having  killed  certain  Koords  who 
had  assassinated  two  Armenian  villagers,  had  proved  their 
innocence,  the  Koords  in  question  having  been  discovered 
living  and  well,  serving  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful  in  the 
Hamidieh  Corps. 

The-  Koordish  murderers,  about  whose  precious  lives  so 
much  fuss  was  made,  were  left  in  peace,  and  they  still  con- 
tinue to  serve  his  Majesty  the  Sultan  with  the  same  zeal  and 
contempt  of  consequences  as  before. 

A  dog  will  bark  if  another  dog  be  shot  in  his  presence. 
These  Armenians  did  not  even  grumble ;  they  simply  called 
in  the  representatives  of  Imperial  law  and  justice,  who  pro- 
ceeded to  deal  with  them  as  with  murderers.  But  Christians 
in  Armenia  dare  not  aspire  to  be  treated  with  the  considera- 
tion shown  to  obedient  dogs  by  good-natured  masters. 

The  stories  told  of  these  Koordish  Hamidieh  officers  in 
general,  and  of  one  of  them,  named  Mostigo,  in  particular, 
seemed  so  wildly  improbable,  that  I  was  at  great  pains  to 
verify  them.  Learning  that  this  particular  Fra  Diavolo  had 
been   arrested   and   was   carefully  guarded   as   a   dangerous 


212  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

criminal  in  the  prison  of  Erzeroum,  where  he  would  probably 
be  hanged,  I  determined  to  obtain,  if  possible,  an  interview 
with  him,  and  learn  the  truth  from  his  own  lips. 

My  first  attempt  ended  in  failure ;  Mostigo  being  a  desper- 
ate murderer,  who  had  once  before  escaped  from  jail,  was 
subjected  to  special  restrictions,  and  if  I  had  carried  out  my 
original  plan  of  visiting  him  in  disguise,  the  probability  is  that 
I  should  not  have  returned  alive.  After  about  three  weeks' 
tedious  and  roundabout  negotiations,  I  succeeded  in  gaining 
the  gaoler's  ear,  having  first  replenished  his  purse.  I  next 
won  over  the  brigand  himself,  and  the  upshot  of  my  endeavors 
was  an  arrangement  that  Mostigo  was  to  be  allowed  to  leave 
the  prison  secretly,  and  at  night,  to  spend  six  hours  in  my 
room,  and  then  to  be  re-conducted  to  his  dungeon. 

When  the  appointed  day  arrived  the  gaoler  repudiated  his 
part  of  the  contract,  on  the  ground  that  Mostigo,  aware  that 
his  life  was  forfeited,  would  probably  give  the  prison  a  wide 
berth  if  allowed  to  leave  its  precincts.  After  some  further 
negotiations,  however,  I  agreed  to  give  two  hostages  for  his 
return,  one  of  them  a  brother  Koord,  whose  life  the  brigand's 
notions  of  honor  would  not  allow  him  to  sacrifice  for  the 
chance  of  saving  his  own. 

At  last  he  came  to  me  one  evening,  walking  over  the  roofs, 
lest  the  police  permanently  stationed  at  my  door  should  espy 
him.  I  kept  him  all  night,  showed  him  to  two  of  the  most 
respectable  Europeans  in  Erzeroum,  and,  lest  any  doubt  should 
be  thrown  on  my  story,  had  myself  photographed  with  him 
next  morning. 

The  tale  unfolded  by  that  Koordish  noble  constitutes  a 
most  admirable  commentary  upon  Turkish  regime  in  Armenia. 
This  is  not  the  place  to  give  it  in  full.  One  or  two  short  ex- 
tracts must  suffice. 

Q.  "  Now,  Mostigo,  I  desire  to  hear  from  your  own  lips, 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  213 


and  to  write  down,  some  of  your  wonderful  deeds.     I  want  to 
make  them  known  to  the  '  hat-wearers.'  "  * 

A.  "  Even  so.     Announce  them  to  the  Twelve  Powers."  f 

There  were  evidently  no  misgivings  about  moral  con 
sequences;  no  fears  of 
judicial  punishment. 
And  yet  retribution  was 
at  hand ;  Mostigo  was 
said  to  be  doomed  to 
death.  Desirous  of  clear- 
ing up  this  'point,  I 
went  on : 

Q.  "  I  am  sorry  to 
find  that  you  are  living 
in  prison.  Have  you 
been  long  there  ?  " 

A.  "  I,  too,  am  sorry. 
Five  months ;  but  it 
seems  an  age." 

Q.  "These  Armenians 
are  to  blame,  I  sup- 
pose ?  " 

A.  "Yes." 

Q.  "  You  wiped  out  too  many  of  them,  carrie;d  off  their 
women,  burned  their  villages,  and  made  it  generally  hot  for 
them,  I  am  told." 

A.  (Scornfully.)  "That  has  nothing  to  do  with  my  imprison- 
ment. I  shall  not  be  punished  for  plundering  Armenians.  We 
all  do  that.  I  seldom  killed,  except  when  they  resisted.  But 
the  Armenians  betrayed  me,  and  I  was  caught.     That's  what 

*The  Koords  call  all  Europeans  hat-wearers,  and  generally  regard 
them  with  respect  and  awe. 
•j-  /.  e.t  to  the  whole  universe. 


TURKISH    LADY. 


^14  Appalling  Co^idition  oj  Arme^iia, 

I  mean.  But  if  I  be  hanged,  it  will  be  for  attacking  and  rob- 
bing the  Turkish  post,  and  violating  the  wife  of  a  Turkish 
Colonel  who  is  now  here  in  Erzeroum.  But  not  for  Arme- 
nians!    Who  are  they  that  I  should  suffer  for  them  ?" 

Boasting  of  Infamy. 

After  he  had  narrated  several  adventures  of  his,  in  the 
course  of  which  he  dishonored  Christian  women,  killed  Ar- 
menian villagers,  robbed  the  post  and  escaped  from  prison, 
he  went  on   to  say  : 

"  We  did  great  deeds  after  that — deeds  that  would  astonish 
the  Twelve  Powers  to  hear  told.  We  attacked  villages,  killed 
people  who  would  have  killed  us,  gutted  houses,  taking  money, 
carpets,  sheep  and  women,  and  robbed  travelers.  .  .  .  Daring 
and  great  were  our  deeds,  and  the  mouths  of  men  were  full  of 
them." 

Having  heard  the  story  of  many  of  these  "  great  deeds,"  in 
some  of  which  fifty  persons  met  their  death,  I  asked: 

Q.  "  Do  the  Armenians  ever  offer  you  resistance  when  you 
take  their  cattle  and  their  women  ?  " 

A.  "  Not  often.  They  cannot.  They  have  no  arms,  and 
they  know  that  even  if  they  could  kill  a  ^^\v  of  us  it  would 
do  them  no  good,  for  other  Koords  would  come  and  take 
vengeance.;  but  when  we  kill  them  no  one's  eyes  grow 
large  with  rage.  The  Turks  hate  them,  and  we  do  not. 
We  only  want  money  and  spoil,  and  some  Koords  also 
want  their  lands,  but  the  Turks"  want  their  lives.  A  few 
months  ago  I  attacked  the  Armenian  village  of  Kara  Kipriu, 
and  drove  off  all  the  sheep  in  the  place.  I  did  not  leave 
one  behind. 

"  The  villagers,  in  despair,  did  follow  us  that  time  and  fire 
some  shots  at  us,  but  it  was  nothing  to  speak  of.  We  drove 
the  sheep  towards  Erzeroum  to  sell  them  there.     But  on  the 


Appalling  Condilion  of  Armenia.  2lo 

way  we  had  a  fight  near  the  Armenian  village  of  Sheme.  The 
peasants  knew  we  had  lifted  the  sheep  from  their  own  people 
and  they  attacked  us.  We  were  only  five  Koords,  and  they 
were  many — the  whole  village  was  up  against  us.  Two  of  my 
men — rayahs*  only — were  killed.  We  killed  fifteen  Arme- 
nians. They  succeeded  in  capturing  forty  of  the  sheep.  The 
remainder  we  held  and  sold  in  Erzeroum." 

Q.  "  Did  you  kill  many  Armenians  generally  ?  " 

A.  "  Yes.  We  did  not  wish  to  do  so.  We  only  want 
booty,  not  lives.  Lives  are  of  no  use  to  us.  But  we  had  to 
drive  bullets  through  people  at  times  to  keep  them  quiet ;  that 
is,  if  they  resisted." 

Q.  "  Did  you  often  use  your  daggers  ?  " 

A.  "  No  ;  generally  our  rifles.  We  must  live.  In  autumn 
we  manage  to  get  as  much  corn  as  we  need  for  the  winter, 
and  money  besides.  We  have  cattle,  but  we  take  no  care  of 
it.      Wc  give  it  to  the  Armenians  to  look  after  and  feed.'' 

Q.  "  But  if  they  refuse?" 

A.  "  Well,  we  burn  their  hay,  their  corn,  their  houses,  and 
we  drive  off  their  sheep,  so  they  do  not  refuse.  We  take  back 
our  cattle  in  spring,  and  the  Armenians  must  return  the  same 
number  that  they  received." 

Q.  "  But  if  the  cattle  disease  should  carry  them  off?  " 

A.  "  That  is  the  Armenians'  affair.  They  must  return  us 
what  we  gave  them,  or  an  equal  number.  And  they  know  it. 
We  cannot  bear  the  loss.  Why  should  not  they  ?  Nearly 
all  our  sheep  come  from  them." 

After  having  listened  to  scores  of  stories  of  his  expedi- 

*The  Koords  are  divided  into  Torens  or  nobles,  who  lead  in  war  time, 
and  possess  and  enjoy  in  peace ;  and  Rayahs,  who  sacrifice  their  lives 
for  their  lords  in  all  raids  and  feuds,  and  are  wholly  dependent  on  them 
at  all  times  A  rayah's  life  may  be  taken  by  a  toreti  with  almost  the 
same  impunity  as  a  Christian's. 


216 


'Ippallbig  Condition  of  Antienia. 


tions,  murders,  rapes,  etc.,  I  again  asked :  "  Can  you  tell  me 
some  more  of  your  daring  deeds,  Mostigo,  for  the  ears  of  the 
Twelve  Powers  ? "  to  which  I  received  this  characteristic 
reply : 


CASTLE   ON   THE   BOSPHORUS. 

"  Once  the  wolf  was  asked  :  Tell  us  something  about  the 
■>heep  you  devoured  ?  and  he  said  :  I  ate  thousands  of  sheep, 
which  of  them  are  you  talking  about?  Even  so  it  is  with 
my  deeds.  If  I  spoke  and  you  wrote  for  two  days,  much 
would  still  remain  untold." 

This  brigand  is  a  Koord,  and  the  name  of  the  Koords  is 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  217 

legion.  Ex  uno  disce  onines.  (From  one  you  may  learn  the 
character  of  all.)  And  yet  the  Koords  have  shown  them- 
selves to  be  the  most  humane  of  all  the  persecutors  of  the 
Armenians.  Needing  money,  this  man  robbed  ;  desirous  of 
pleasure  he  dishonored  women  and  girls ;  defending  his  booty, 
he  killed  men  and  women,  and  during  it  all  he  felt  absolutely 
j'.-rtain  of  impunity,  so  long  as  his  victims  were  Armenians. 

Is  there  no  law  then  ?  one  is  tempted  to  ask.  There  is, 
and  a  very  good  law  for  that  corner  of  the  globe,  were  it  only 
administered ;  for  the  moment  he  robbed  the  Imperial  post 
and  dishonored  a  Turkish  woman,  he  was  found  worthy  of 
death. 

Promises  are  only  a  Mockery, 

Laws,  reforms  and  constitutions,  therefore,  were  they  drawn 
up  by  the  wisest  and  most  experienced  legislators  and  states- 
men of  the  world,  will  not  be  worth  the  paper  they  are  writ- 
ten on  so  long  as  the  Turks  are  allowed  to  administer  them 
without  control.  The  proof  is  contained  in  the  life  and  acts 
of  Turkish  officials  any  time  during  the  past  fifty  years. 

Here,  for  example,  is  an  honorable  record  of  an  energetic 
administrator,  his  Excellency  Hussein  Pasha,  Brigadier-Gen- 
eral of  his  Majesty  the  Sultan,  which  will  bear  the  closest 
scrutin)^  Commanding  a  gang  of  Koordish  brigands,  which 
could  be  increased  to  about  2,000  men,  he  continually  har- 
assed the  peaceful  inhabitants  of  the  province,  plundering, 
torturing,  violating,  killing,  till  his  name  alone  sent  a  thrill  of 
terror  to  the  hearts  of  all. 

The  Armenians  of  Patnotz  suffered  so  much  from  his 
depredations  that  they  all  quitted  their  village  en  masse  and 
migrated  to  Karakilisse,  where  the  Kaimakam  resides  ;  where- 
upon Hussein  surrounded  the  house  of  the  Bishop  of  Karaki- 
lisse with  a  large  force  and  compelled  him  to  send  the  people 
back. 


218  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia, 

Even  the  Mohammedans  felt  so  shocked  at  his  doings,  that 
the  Mussulman  priest  of  Patnotz,  Sheikh  Nari,  complained  of 
him  to  the  Vah  (Governor-General)  of  Erzeroum.  Hussein 
then  sent  his  men,  who  murdered  Sheikh  Nari  and  frightened 
his  daughter-in-law  to  death.  In  one  expedition  he  carried 
off  2,600  sheep,  many  horses,  kine,  etc.,  took  ;^2,5oo,  burnt 
nine  villages,  killed  ten  men,  and  cut  off  the  right  hands,  noses 
and  ears  of  eleven  others. 

Crimes  Unpunished. 

Early  in  the  year  1890  he  raped  five  Christian  girls  of 
Patnotz,  and  in  September  and  October  of  the  same  year  he 
levied  a  contribution  of  ^1,500  on  the  people  of  the  same  dis- 
trict. For  none  of  these  crimes  was  he  ever  tried.  In  Decem- 
ber^  1890,  he  sent  his  brother  to  raise  more  money,  which  was 
done  by  raiding  twenty-one  villages  of  the  Aintab  District, 
the  net  result  being  ;^i,75oand  200  batmans  of  butter  (=3,000 
lbs.).  Hatsho,  an  Armenian  of  Patnotz,  who  could  not,  or 
would  not,  contribute  a  certain  sum  to  his  coffer,  had  his 
house  raided  in  his  absence,  and  his  wife  and  two  children 
killed. 

All  this  time  the  gallant  Hussein  occupied  the  post  and 
"  discharged  the  duties"  of  a  Mudir  or  Deputy  Sub-Governor. 
One  day  he  drove  off  1,000  sheep  and  7  yoke  of  buffaloes 
from  Patnotz  and  Kizilkoh  and  sold  them  in  Erzeroum  to  a 
merchant,  after  which  he  confiscated  a  fine  horse  belonging  to 
Manook,  an  Armenian  of  Kizilkoh,  and  sent  it  as  a  present  to 
the  son  of  an  Erzeroum  judge.  One  night  towards  the  end 
of  February,  1891,  Hussein,  his  nephew  Rassoul,  and  others, 
entered  the  house  of  an  Armenian,  Kaspar,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  off  Ka.spar's  handsome  daughter-in-law. 

The  inmates,  however,  shouted  for  help,  whereupon  Hus- 
sein, raising  his  revolver,  shot  the  young  womain  dead.     A 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  219 

petition  was  presented  asking  that  he  be  punished,  but  the 
Vah  of  Erzeroum  declined  to  receive  it,  and  Hussein  was 
summoned  to  Constantinople,  welcomed  with  cordiality,  deco- 
rated by  his  Majesty,  raised  to  the  rank  of  Pasha,  and  ap- 
pointed Brigadier-General.  When  the  troops  went  to  Moush 
and  Sassoun  in  1894,  Hussein  was  one  of  the  heroes,  and 
when  "  order  "  was  restored  there,  he  returned  to  Patnotz  with 
several  young  Sassounian  girls  whom  he  abducted,  and  he 
now  lives  happy  and  respected. 

Conspirators  in  Crime. 

No  doubt  there  are  missions  which  might  be  entrusted  to  a 
gentleman  like  Brigadier-General  Hussein  Pasha  and  men  of 
his  type.  But  is  the  government  of  a  Christian  people  one  of 
them  ?  And  if  we  assume  that  the  then  Vali  of  Erzeroum 
and  the  other  administrators  of  the  country  were  men  of  a 
much  higher  moral  standard  than  he,  of  what  avail  were  their 
noble  character  and  admirable  intentions,  seeing  that  they 
allowed  him  to  plunder,  ravish,  burn  and  kill  unchecked? 
And  is  it  reasonable  to  blame  Hussein  Pasha  for  deeds,  after 
the  perpetration  of  which,  he  was  honored  and  promoted  by 
the  guardian  of  all  law  and  order,  the  Commander  of  the 
Faithful  ? 

Not  all  of  the  officials  have  the  same  tastes  or  the  same 
degree  of  courage  as  his  Excellency  Hussein  Pasha.  There 
are  others — many  others  no  doubt — who,  whatever  their  pri- 
vate proclivities  may  be,  feel  moved  by  their  official  sense  of 
the  fitness  of  things  to  cast  about  for  a  pretext  for  acts  for 
which  there  could  be  no  conceivable  justification.  And  the 
follies  which  they  commit  in  pursuit  of  this  shadow  would 
seem  incredible  were  they  not  notorious.  The  following  case 
has  been  inquired  into  and  verified  by  the  foreign  representa- 
tives in  Turkey : 


220 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 


In  the  spring  of  1893  Ilassib  Pasha,  the  Governor  of 
Moush,  feehng  the  need  of  some  proofs  of  the  disaffection 
of  the  Armenians  of  Avzoot  and  the  neighboring  villages, 
despatched  Police  Captain  Reshid  Effendi  thither  to  search 
for  arms.  Reshid  set  out,  made  careful  inquiries  and  dili- 
gently searched  in  the  houses,  on  the  roofs,  under  the  ground, 
but  in  vain.     There  were  no  firearms  anywhere.     He  returned 


r 


SERAGLIO   POINT — CONSTANTINOPLE. 

and  reported  that  the  villagers  had  strictly  observed  the  law 
forbidding  them  to  possess  weapons  of  any  kind. 

But  Hassib  Pasha  waxed  wroth.  "  How  dare  you  assert 
what  I  know  to  be  untrue  ?  "  he  asked.  "  Go  back  this  minute 
and  find  the  arms.  Don't  dare  return  without  them  !  "  The 
Police  Captain  again  rode  off  to  Avzoot  and  searched  every 
nook  and  corner  with  lamps,  so  to  say,  turning  the  houses 
inside  out.  But  he  found  nothing.  Then  he  summoned  the 
village  Elder  and  said :  "  I  have  been  sent  to  discover  the 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  221 

hidden  arms  here.  Tell  me  where  they  are."  "  But  there 
are  none."  "  There  must  be  some."  "  I  assure  you,  you  are 
mistaken." 

"  Well,  now  listen.  I  have  to  find  arms  here,  whether 
there  are  any  or  none,  and  I  cannot  return  without  them. 
Unless  you  deliver  me  some,  I  shall  quarter  myself  and  my 
men  upon  your  village."  This  meant  certainly  plunder  and 
probably  rape.  The  Elder  was  dismayed.  "  What  are  we  to 
do  ?"  he  asked.  "  We  have  no  arms."  "  Go  and  get  some 
then,  steal  them,  buy  them,  but  get  them." 

Cart-loads  of  Weapons. 

Two  or  three  persons  were  accordingly  sent  to  the  nearest 
Koordish  village,  where  they  purchased  three  cart-loads  of 
old  daggers,  flintlock  guns  and  rusty  swords,  which  were 
duly  handed  over  to  Reshid,  With  these  he  returned  to  the 
Governor  of  Mouish  exulting.  Hasib  Pasha,  seeing  the  col- 
lection, rejoiced  exceedingly  and  said  :  "  You  see  now,  I  was 
right.  I  told  you  there  were  arms  hidden  away  there.  You  did 
not  seek  for  them  properly  at  first.  Be  more  diligent  in  future." 

Verto  Popakhian,  an  inhabitant  of  the  village  of  Khalil 
Tshaush  (Khnouss),  narrated  the  following,  the  story  of  his 
troubles,  which  throws  a  curious  sidelight  on  Turkish  justice 
and  Armenian  peasant-life  generally  ; 

"  A  Koord  named  Djundee  endeavored  to  carry  off  my 
niece,  Nazo,  but  we  took  her  to  Erzeroum,  and  gave  her  in 
marriage  to  an  Armenian.  We  often  have  to  give  our  young 
girls  in  marriage  when  they  are  mere  children,  eleven  to 
twelve  years  old,  or  else  dress  them  up  in  boy's  clothes,  to 
preserve  them  undefiled.  Naze's  husband  was  the  son  of  the 
parish  priest  of  Hertev.  The  Koords  vowed  vengeance  upon 
me  for  saving  the  girl  thus.  Djundee  beat  my  brother  so 
serionsly  that  he  was  ill  in  bed  for  nearly  six  months,  and  he 


222  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

and  his  men  drove  off  my  cattle,  burned  our  grain,  threshing- 
floor  and  hay,  and  ruined  us  completely. 

When  the  girl  came  home  on  a  visit,  Djundee  and  his 
Koords  attacked  the  house,  and  carried  her  off.  We  com- 
plained to  all  the  authorities  in  the  place  and  in  Erzeroum 
too.  By  the  time  they  agreed  to  examine  the  girl  publicly, 
she  had  borne  a  child  to  the  Koord,  and  shame  prevented  her 
return.  She  remained  a  Mohammedan.  We  then  bought  a 
gun  for  our  protection,  the  law  forbidding  firearms  not  exist- 
ing yet.  In  1893  we  sold  the  gun  to  a  Koord  named  Hadji 
Daho,  but  in  1894  the  police  came  and  demanded  it.  We 
said  we  had  sold  it,  and  the  Koord  bore  out  our  assertion. 
He  even  showed  it  to  them.  But  they  arrested  my  brother 
and  myself,  and  compelled  us  to  give  our  two  buffaloes  in 
exchange  for  two  guns,  which  they  took  away  as  incriminat- 
ing proof  of  our  guilt ;  and  then  they  sent  us  to  Erzeroum 
prison. 

"  We  were  kept  here,  suffering  great  hardships,  for  a  long 
time.  When  eight  months  had  passed  away,  my  brother  died 
of  ill-treatment.  Then  they  promised  me  my  liberty  in  con- 
sideration of  large  bribes,  which  reduced  me  to  absolute 
beggary.  I  had  no  choice.  I  gave  them  all  they  asked, 
leaving  myself  and  family  of  nineteen  persons  completely 
destitute.  A7id  then  they  condemned  me  to  jive  years'  imprison- 
ment." 

Justice  Denied  to  Armenians. 

Justice  in  all  its  aspects  is  rigorously  denied  to  the  Arme- 
nian. The  mere  fact  that  he  dares  to  invoke  it  as  plaintiff  or 
prosecutor  against  a  Koord  or  a  Turk  is  always  sufficient  to 
metamorphose  him  into  a  defendant  or  a  criminal,  generally 
into  both,  whereupon  he  is  invariably  thrown  into  prison.  In 
such  cases  the  prison  is  intended  to  be  no  more  than  the 
half-way  house  between  relative  comfort  and  absolute  misery, 
the  inmates  being  destined  to  be  stripped  of  all  they  possess 
and  then  turned  adrift. 

But  what  the  prison  really  is  cannot  be  made  sufficiently 
clear  in  words.    If  the  old  English  Star  Chamber,  the  Spanish 


Appalling  Condition  of  Aj^menia.  223 

Inquisition,  a  Chinese  opium  den,  the  ward  of  a  yellow-fever 
hospital,  and  a  nook  in  the  lowest  depths  of  Dante's  Hell  be 
conceived  as  blended  and  merged  into  one,  the  resulting 
picture  will  somewhat  resemble  a  bad  Turkish  prison.  Filth, 
stench,  disease,  deformity,  pain  in  forms  and  degrees  incon 
ceivable  in  Europe,  constitute  the  physical  characteristics  : 
the  psychological  include  the  blank  despair  that  is  final, 
fiendish,  fierce  malignity,  hellish  delight  in  human  suffering, 
stoic  self-sacrifice  in  the  cultivation  of  loathsome  vices,  stark 
madness  raging  in  the  moral  nature  only — the  whole  incar- 
nated in  grotesque  beings  whose  resemblance  to  man  is  a 
living  blasphemy  against  the  Deity. 

A  Nightmare  of  Horrors. 

In  these  noisome  dungeons,  cries  of  exquisite  suffering  and 
shouts  of  unnatural  delight  continually  commingle;  ribald 
songs  are  sung  to  the  accompaniment  of  heart-rending  groans  ; 
meanwhile  the  breath  is  passing  away  from  bodies  which  had 
long  before  been  soulless,  and  are  unwept  save  by  the  clammy 
walls  whereon  the  vapor  of  unimagined  agonies  and  foul 
disease  condenses  into  big  drops  and  runs  down  in  driblets  to 
the  reeking  ground.  Truly  it  is  a  horrid  nightmare  quickened 
into  life. 

Last  March  I  despatched  a  friend  of  mine  to  visit  the 
political  prisoners  in  the  Bitlis  penitentiary,  and  to  ask  them 
to  give  me  a  succinct  account  of  their  condition.  Four  of 
them  replied  in  a  joint  letter,  which  is  certainly  the  most 
gruesome  piece  of  reading  I  have  beheld  ever  since  I  first 
perused  a  description  of  the  Black  Hole.  Only  the  least 
sensational  passages  can  be  stripped  of  the  decent  disguise  of 
a  foreign  language  and  exposed  to  the  light  of  day. 

It  is  dated  "  Bitlis  Prison,  Hell,  March  28"  (April  9th), 
1895,"  and  begins  thus : 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  225 

"  In  Bitlis  Prison  there  are  seven  cells,  each  one  capable  of 
containing  from  ten  to  twelve  persons.  The  number  they 
actually  contain  is  from  twenty  to  thirty.  There  are  no 
sanitary  arrangements  whatever.  Offal,  vermin,  and  the  filth 
that  should  find  a  special  place  elsewhere  are  heaped  together 
in  the  same  cell.  .  .  .  The  water  is  undrinkable.  Frequently 
the  Armenian  prisoners  are  forced  to  drink  '  Khwlitsh  '  water 
— i.e.,  water  from  the  tank  in  which  the  Mohammedans  perform 
their  ablutions " 

Then  follows  a  brief  but  suggestive  account  of  the  treat- 
ment endured  by  the  writer's  comrades,  many  of  whom  died 
from  the  effects.  For  example  :  "  Malkhass  Aghadjanian  and 
Scrop  Malkhassian  of  Avzoot  (Moush)  were  beaten  till  they 
lost  consciousness.  The  former  was  branded  in  eight  places, 
the  latter  in  twelve  places,  with  a  hot  iron."  The  further 
outrage  which  was  committed  upon  Serop  must  be  nameless. 
"  Hagop  Seropian,  of  the  village  of  Avzoot,  was  stripped  and 
beaten  till  he  lost  consciousness ;  then  a  girdle  v/as  thrown 
round  his  neck,  and  having  been  dragged  into  the  Zaptieh's 
room,  he  was  branded  in  sixteen  parts  of  his  body  with  red- 
hot  ram-rods." 

Nameless  Outrages. 

Having  described  other  sufferings  to  which  he  was  sub- 
jected, such  as  the  plucking  out  of  his  hair,  standing  motionless 
ih  one  place  without  food  or  drink  till  nature  could  hold  out 
no  longer,  the  writer  goes  on  to  mention  outrages  for  which 
the  English  tongue  has  no  name,  and  civilized  people  no  ears. 
Then  he  continues  : 

"Sirko  Minassian,  Garabed  Malkhassian,  and  Isro  Ard- 
vadzadoorian  of  the  same  village,  having  been  violently 
beaten,  were  forced  to  remain  in  a  standing  position  for  a  long 
time,  and  then  had  the  contents  of  certain  vessels  poured 
upon  their  heads.  Korki  Mardoyan,  of  the  village  of  Semol, 
was  violently  beaten ;  his  hair  was  plucked  out  JDy  the  roots, 
15 


226  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

and  he  was  forced  to  stand  motionless  for  twenty-four  hours 
Then  Moolazim  Hadji  Ali  and  the  gaoler,  Abdoolkadir,  forced 
him  to  perform  the  so-called  Sheitantopy ^  which  resulted  in 
his  death.     He  was  forty-five  years  of  age. 

"  Mekhitar  Saforian  and  Khatsho  Baloyan  of  Kakarloo 
(Boolanyk)  were  subjected  to  the  same  treatment.  Mekhitar 
was  but  fifteen  and  Khatsho  only  thirteen  years  old.  Sogho 
Sharoyan,  of  Alvarindj  (Moush),  was  conveyed  from  Moush 
to  Bitlis  prison  handcuffed.  Here  he  was  cruelly  beaten,  and 
forced  to  maintain  a  standing  position  without  food. 

"  Whenever  he  fainted  they  revived  him  with  douches  of 
cold  water  and  stripes.  They  also  plucked  out  his  hair,  and 
burned  his  body  with  red-hot  irons.  Then  ....  (They  sub- 
jected him  to  treatment  which  cannot  be  described.)  .... 
Hambartzoon  Boyadjian,  after  his  arrest,  was  exposed  to  the 
scorching  heat  of  the  sun  for  three  days.  Then  he  was  taken 
to  Semal,  where  he  and  his  companions  were  beaten  and  shut 
up  in  a  church.  They  were  not  only  not  allowed  to  leave  the 
church  to  relieve  the  wants  of  nature,  but  were  forced  to  defile 

the  baptismal  fonts  and  the  church  altar Where  are 

you,  Christian  Europe  and  America  ?  " 

The  four  signatures  at  the  foot  of  this  letter  include  that  of 
a  highly-respected  and  God-fearing  ecclesiastic. 

Prison  Tortures. 

I  am  personally  acquainted  with  scores  of  people  who  have 
passed  through  these  prison  mills.  The  stories  they  narrate 
of  their  experience  there  are  gruesome,  and  would  be  hard  to 
believe  were  they  not  amply  confirmed  by  the  still  more  eerie 
tales  told  by  their  broken  spirits,  their  wasted  bodies,  and  the 
deep  scars  and  monstrous  deformities  that  will  abide  with 
them  till  the  grave  or  the  vultures  devour  them. 

♦Literally  "  Devil's  ring.''  The  hands  are  tightly  bound  together, 
and  the  feet,  tied  together  by  the  great  toes,  are  forced  up  over  the  hands. 
The  remainder  of  the  Sheitantopy  consists  of  a  severe  torture  and  a 
beastly  crime. 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  227 

There  is  something  so  forbiddingly  fantastic  and  wildly  gro- 
tesque in  the  tortures  and  outrages  invented  by  their  gaolers 
or  their  local  governors  that  a  simple,  unvarnished  account  of 
them  sounds  like  the  ravings  of  a  diseased  devil.  But  this 
is  a  subject  upon  which  it  is  impossible  to  be  explicit. 

Turkish  Dungeons. 

The  manner  in  which  men  qualify  for  the  Turkish  prison  in 
Armenia  can  be  easily  deduced  from  what  has  already  been 
said.  The  possession  of  money,  cattle,  corn,  land,  a  wife  or 
daughter,  or  enemies,  is  enough.  We  are  shocked  to  read  of 
the  cruelty  of  brutal  Koords,  who  ride  to  a  village,  attack  the 
houses,  drive  off  the  sheep,  seize  all  the  portable  property, 
dishonor  the  women,  and  return  leisurely  home,  conscious  of 
having  done  a  good  day's  work.  We  call  it  a  disgrace  to 
civilization,  and  perhaps  the  qualification  is  correct. 

But  bad  as  it  sounds,  it  is  a  mercy  compared  with  the 
Turkish  methods,  which  rely  upon  the  machinery  of  the  law 
and  the  horrors  of  the  prison.  A  man  whom  poverty,  nay, 
hunger,  prevents  from  paying  imaginary  arrears  of  taxes,  who 
declines  to  give  up  his  cow  or  his  buffalo  as  backsheesh  to 
the  Zaptiehs,  who  beseeches  them  to  spare  the  honor  of  his 
wife  or  his  daughter,  is  thrown  into  one  of  these  dungeons, 
which  he  never  leaves  until  he  has  been  branded  with  the  in- 
delible stigma  of  the  place.  But  let  us  take  one  of  the  usual 
and  by  no  means  most  revolting  cases  of  arrest  and  imprison- 
ment as  an  illustration. 

A  young  man  from  the  village  of  Avzood  (Moush  District) 
went  to  Russia  in  search  of  work,  and  found  it.  He  also 
married,  and  lived  there  for  several  years.  Towards  the  close 
of  1892  he  came  back  to  his  native  village,  and  the  police, 
informed  that  "  an  Armenian  who  has  lived  in  Russia  is  re- 
turned," despatched  four  of  their  number  under  the  orders  of 


m 

{A 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  229 

Isaag  Tshaush  to  Avzood.     They  arrived  two  hours   after 

sundown,  and,  while  three  of  them  guarded  the  house  where 

the  young  man  was  staying,  the  leader  entered.     Shots  were 

heard  immediately  after,  and  the  young  Armenian  and  Isaag 

lay  dead. 

False  Evidence. 

The  authorities  in  Bitlis  then  sent  a  Colonel  of  the  Zaptiehs 
to  Avzood  to  see  "justice"  done.  And  it  was  done  very 
speedily.  The  Colonel  summoned  the  men  of  the  village — 
none  of  whom  were  mixed  up  in  the  matter — and  put  them 
in  prison.  Then  the  officials  deflowered  all  the  girls,  and  dis- 
honored all  the  young  women  in  Avzood,  after  which  they 
liberated  the  men,  except  about  twenty,  whom  they  conveyed 
to  the  jail  of  Bitlis.  A  few  of  these  died  there,  and  ten  others 
were  soon  afterwards  dismissed.  Finally  they  decided  to 
charge  a  young  teacher,  Markar,  of  the  village  of  Vartenis, 
with  the  murder  of  Isaag  Tshaush,  and  as  there  was  no  evi- 
dence against  him,  the  other  prisoners  were  ordered  to  testify. 

Armenians  have  the  reputation  of  being  liars,  but  they  cer- 
tainly draw  the  line  at  swearing  away  an  innocent  man's  life  ; 
and  they  refused  in  this  case  to  commit  the  double  crime  of 
perjury  and  murder.  Strenuous  efforts  were  made  to  deter- 
mine them;  they  were  stripped  naked,  burned  in  various  parts 
of  the  body  with  red-hot  irons,  till  they  yelled  with  pain. 
Then  they  were  prevented  from  sleeping  for  several  nights, 
and  tortured  acutely  again,  till,  writhing  and  quivering,  they 
promised  to  swear  anything,  everything,  if  once  relieved  from 
their  agony. 

A  document  declaring  that  Markar  was  in  the  village  when 
Isaag  Tshaush  arrived  there,  and  that  he  had  shot  Isaag  in 
their  presence,  was  drawn  up  in  their  names.  To  this  they 
duly  affixed  their  seals.  Meanwhile  Markar  himself  was 
being  tortured  in  another  part  of  the  prison. 


230  AppaUing   Condition  of  Arntenia. 

When  the  trial  came  on  and  the  incriminating  document 
was  read,  the  signatories  stripped  themselves  in  court,  exhib- 
ited the  ugly  marks  left  by  the  red-hot  irons,  and  called  God 
to  witness  that  that  evidence  of  theirs,  wrung  from  them  by 
maddening  torture,  was  a  lie. 

Markar,  on  the  other  hand,  declared  that  he  was  not  in 
Avzood  village  at  all  on  the  night  in  question.  But  these 
statements  were  unavailing;  he  was  hanged  last  year,  and  the 
"  witnesses  "  condemned  to  various  terms  in  fortified  towns. 
Some  of  the  women  dishonored  by  the  Zaptiehs  died  from  the 
effects  of  the  treatment  to  which  they  were  subjected. 

Shrewd  Method  for  Making  Money. 

The  jailors  grow  rich  on  the  money  they  wring  from  the 
inmates  of  the  cells.  The  prison-keeper  of  Bitlis  Prison, 
Abdoolkader,  a  wretch  who,  God  having  presumably  made 
him,  may  be  called  a  man,  earns  enormous  sums  this  way. 
lie  lately  spent  ;^2,500  on  his  house,  and  two  or  three  Turk- 
ish merchants  are  said  to  be  doing  business  on  his  capital, 
although  his  salary  is  only  about  50^".  a  month.  These  sums 
are  received  as  bribes,  not  for  any  positive  return  made  to  the 
prisoners,  but  for  mere  relief  from  torture  employed  solely  for 
this  purpose. 

The  following  case  may  give  some  idea  of  the  nature  of  the 
relief  thus  highly  paid  for:  Some  five  months  ago  three  men 
of  the  village  of  Krtabaz  were  arrested  and  imprisoned.  The 
fact  that  they  were  released  without  trial  ten  weeks  later  is 
evidence  enough  of  their  innocence  of  crime.  They  were 
taken  to  the  prison  of  Hassankaleh.  The  room  in  which 
they  were  confined  was  overcrowded. 

The  term  overcrowding  does  not  denote  the  same  thing  in 
Armenia  as  in  European  prisons.  They  had  no  room  to  lie 
down  at  all.     Some  Koordish  prisoners  confined  in  the  same 


Appalling  Condiiion  of  Armenia,  231 

dismal  den,  who  enjoyed  special  privileges,  had  but  two  and 
a  half  feet  space  to  sleep  in.  In  one  corner  of  the  dungeon  a 
hole  in  the  wall  represented  the  prison-equivalent  for  sanita- 
tion, and  these  three  Armenians  were  told  that  they  must 
stand  up  by  this  hole,  and  might  lean  against  the  wall  to 
sleep.  This  they  did  for  fifteen  consecutive  nights.  The  stench, 
the  filth,  the  vermin  exceed  all  conception. 

After  the  lapse  of  fifteen  days,  by  dint  of  starving  them- 
selves, they  were  enabled  to  give  part  of  theii  food  to  some  of 
the  Koords,  one  of  whom  allowed  the  Armenians  to  take  his 
place  in  turn  during  the  day.  This  was  not  much,  for  the 
Koords  themselves  had  only  sitting  space,  about  two  and  a 
half  feet  long;  still  it  did  afford  relief.  But  the  Koord  was 
severely  punished  for  this  benevolence  or  enterprise.  His 
rations  of  bread  were  cut  off,  and  he  was  put  in  irons  for  sev- 
eral days. 

In  Constant  Danger. 

The  men  he  thus  befriended,  who  now  aver  they  owe  their 
lives  to  him,  were  notables  of  their  village,  and  innocent  per- 
sons to  boot,  who  were  released  some  weeks  later  because 
"  they  had  done  no  wrong." 

It  is  no  easy  thing  for  an  Armenian  man  to  cross  the  fron- 
tier and  enter  Russia,  if  he  possess  a  gold  or  silver  coin  or 
an  article  of  clothing;  nor  for  a  woman  to  leave  the  country 
without  first  undergoing  indignities,  the  mere  mention  of 
which  should  make  a  man's  blood  boil  with  shame  and  indig- 
nation. "  Oh,  but  these  things  are  not  felt  so  acutely  by 
Armenians  as  they  would  be  by  Europeans,"  said  an  English 
lady  to  me  a  few  days  ago:  "the  wind  is  tempered  to  the 
shorn  lamb,  don't  you  know?"  It  may  be  so;  but  I  have 
seen  and  conversed  with  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  Armenian 
women  lately,  and  I  found  no  signs  of  the  tempering 
process. 


232  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.    ■ 

Whatever  vices  or  virtues  may  be  predicated  of  Armenian 
women,  chastity  must  be  numbered  among  their  essential 
characteristics.  They  carry  it  to  an  incredible  extreme.  In 
many  places  an  Armenian  woman  never  even  speaks  to  any  man 
but  her  husband,  unless  the  latter  is  present.  Even  to  her 
nearest  and  dearest  male  relatives  and  connections  she  has 
nothing  to  say;  and  her  purity,  in  the  slums  of  Erzeroum  as 
in  the  valleys  of  Sassoun,  is  above  suspicion. 

Driven  over  the  Frontier. 

Yet  these  are  the  people  who  are  being  continually  out- 
raged by  brutal  Koords  and  beastly  Turks,  oftentimes  until 
death  releases  them.  But  the  difficulty  of  emigrating  from 
Turkey,  with  money,  clothing,  or  women,  will  be  best  under- 
Stood  in  the  light  of  a  few  concrete  examples.  Not  that  the 
Turks  object  to  their  leaving.  On  the  contrary — and  this  is 
the  most  conclusive  proof  of  the  existence  of  the  Plan  of  Ex- 
termination— they  actually  drive  them  over  the  frontier,  and 
then  persistently  refuse  to  allow  them  to  return. 

Sahag  Garoyan,  questioned  as  to  the  reasons  why  he  and 
his  family  of  ten  persons  emigrated  from  his  village  of 
Kheter  (Sandjak  of  Bayazid),  deposed  as  follows  : 

"  We  could  not  remain  because  we  were  treated  as  beasts 
of  burden  by  Rezekam  B2y,  son  of  Djaffer  Agha,  and  '  is 
men,  who  belong  to  his  Majesty's  Hamidieh  corps,  and 
can  therefore  neither  be  punished  nor  complained  of  I  emi- 
grated towards  the  end  of  last  year.  Rezekam  had  come 
with  his  followers,  as  if  it  were  war-time,  and  taken  possession 
of  the  houses  of  the  Armenians,  driving  the  occupants  away. 

"  Only  seven  families  were  allowed  to  stay  on.  The  others, 
having  no  place  to  go  to,  took  refuge  in  the  church.  We 
had  to  feed  the  Koords  for  three  months,  giving  them  our 
corn,  sheep,  etc.,  and  keeping  their  cattle  in  fodder.  We  had 
to  serve  some  of  them  as  beasts  of  burden.*     Rezekam  him- 

*  This  is  no  uncommon  thing  in  Armenia. 


234  Appdllhig  Condition  of  Armenia. 

self  paid  a  weekly  visit  to  the  village  of  Karakilisse,  and 
levied  a  contribution  of  ^50  Turkish  on  the  inhabitants, 
besides  hay,  barley,  etc.,  for  his  men. 

"  At  last,  unable  to  bear  this  burden  any  longer,  we  ad- 
dressed a  complaint  to  the  authorities.  They  told  us  to  be 
gone.  Then  a  Koord,  named  Ghazas  Teamer,  ordered  us  to  sign 
a  document  setting  forth  that  we  were  prosperous  and  happy. 
This  was  to  be  sent  to  Constantinople,  as  he  wished  to  be  ap- 
pointed Yoozbashi  of  the  Hamidiehs.  No  one  signed  the 
paper,  whereat  Teamer  grew  angry,  and  killed  Avaki  and  his 
brother.  Five  months  later  he  killed  Minass,  son  of  Kre,  of 
the  village  of  Mankassar.  When  the  winter  came  on  last 
year,  Rezekam  Bey  imprisoned  our  neighbor  Sarkiss,  son  of 
Sahag,  had  his  head  plunged  in  cold  water  and  dried ;  after 
that  it  was  steeped  in  petroleum  and  his  hair  burned  off. 

"  Then  he  endeavored  to  violate  Sara,  Sarkiss'  sister,  but 
she  was  smuggled  away  in  time.  Rezekam's  servant,  Kheto, 
dishonored  Moorad's  wife  ;  and  a  few  days  later  entered  the 
'louse  of  Abraham,  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  village,  com- 
manding him  to  go  and  work  for  Rezekam  Bey.  Abraham's 
wife,  who  was  about  to  become  a  mother,  begged  that  he 
might  be  allowed  to  stay  at  home ;  but  Kheto  kicked  her  in 
the  stomach,  and  she  was  delivered  of  a  dead  child  an  hour 
or  so  after.  Oh,  we  could  not  live  there — not  if  we  "rere 
beasts,  instead  of  Christians." 

A  Common  Story. 
Mgirdeetch  Mekhoyan,  aged  thirty-five,  of  the  village  of 
Koopegheran  (Sandjak  of  Bayazid),  deposed :  "  I  emigrated 
in  1894  because  Aipa  Pasha  came  with  forty  Koordish 
families,  demolished  our  church,  and  took  everything  we 
had."  The  same  story,  with  variations,  comes  from  every 
Sandjak,  almost  from  every  village  of  the  five  Armenian 
provinces.  Bedross  Kozdyan,  aged  fifty-five,  of  the  village  of 
Arog  (Sandjak  of  Van),  testified  : 

"  I  left  my  village  and  my  country  with  my  family  in 
August,  last  year  (1894),  because  we  were  driven  away  by 


Appalli7ig    Condition  of  Armenia.  235 

the  Koords  under  Kri,  son  of  Tshalo,  who  was  abetted  by 
the  Turkish  authorities.  He  first  came  and  violated  three 
girls  and  three  young  married  women,  whom  he  took  away 
in  spite  of  their  cries  and  prayers.  Three  Armenians  tried 
to  protect  the  wretched  women,  who  implored  them  not  to  let 
them  go. 

"  But  the  Koords  killed  the  three  on  the  spot.  Their 
names  were  Sarkiss,  Khatsho  and  Keveark.  Next  day  he 
and  his  men  drove  off  the  sheep  of  the  villagers.  We  com- 
plained to  the  Governor  of  Van,  but  he  said  he  could  not 
move  in  the  matter.  Ten  days  later  the  Koords  came  again, 
and  carried  away  our  wheat,  barley,  and  live  stock,  and 
burned  the  hay  which  they  could  not  transport.  Then  they 
knocked  down  the  altar  of  our  church,  hoping  to  find  gold 
and  silver  hidden  away  there.  We  again  besought  the 
authorities  to  protect  us,  but  they  replied,  *  We'll  slaughter 
you  like  sheep  if  you  dare  to  come  again  with  your  com- 
plaints against  good  Mohammedans.' 

"  Then  we  took  what  we  could  with  us  and  set  out  for 
Russia.  When  we  reached  Sinak  six  armed  Koords  attacked 
us,  robbed  us  of  everything  we  had,  and  sent  us  over  the 
frontier  with  nothing  but  our  clothes." 

Processions  to  the  Churchyard. 

The  Plan  of  Extermination  is  obviously  working  smoothly 
and  well.  The  Christian  population  is  decimated,  villages  are 
changing  hands  almost  as  quickly  as  the  scenes  shift  in  a 
comic  opera,  and  the  exodus  to  Russia  and  the  processions  to 
the  churchyard  are  increasing.  This  is  not  the  place  to  give 
a  list  of  islamized  villages,  but  a  typical  case  may  help  to  con- 
vey an  idea  of  the  process  that  is  going  on  even  now. 

In  the  province  of  Alashkerd,  which  borders  upon  Russia, 
there  are  five  villages  to  the  east  of  Karakilisse,  named 
respectively,  Khedr  (or  Kheter),  Mangassar,  Djoodjan,  Ziro 
and  Koopkheran.  These  villages  Eyoob  Pasha  sent  his  sons 
to  occupy.     Koords  of  the  Zilanlee  tribe,  they  are  all  officers 


236 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  237 

in  the  Hamidieh  corps.  General  Eyoob  has  three  sons, 
Rezgo  Bey,  Khalid  Bey  and  Yoossoof  Bey,  and  these  gallant 
officers  with  their  followers  set  out  last  spring  and  took  the 
villages  for  themselves. 

There  were  about  400  Armenian  houses  there  at  the  time, 
or,  say  roughly,  some  3,000  Christian  inhabitants.  There  is 
not  one  there  to-day.  Only  one  individual,  named  Avedis 
Asfha,  has  remained,  and  even  he  lives  not  in  one  of  the  four 
villages,  but  in  Yoondjaloo,  He  was  a  wealthy  man  when 
the  Koords  arrived ;  he  is  indigent  now.  The  Armenians 
were  completely  driven  out  in  the  course  of  a  few  months  by 
methods  which  may  be  termed  somewhat  drastic. 

Killed  for  Disobedience. 

For  example :  one  day  the  Koords  met  Markar,  son  of 
Ghoogo,  in  the  fields  carrying  home  his  corn.  They  de- 
manded his  araha  (cart).  He  replied  that  it  was  engaged  now, 
as  ^hey  could  see  for  themselves,  but  that  he  would  give  it 
later  on.  They  killed  him  on  the  spot  for  disobedience,  and 
threw  his  body  on  the  cart.  Thirty  villagers  went  with  their 
children  to  complain  to  the  Kaimakam  in  Karakilisse.  The 
Kaimakam  caused  them  to  remain  waiting  in  the  open  air  for 
eleven  days  before  he  would  hear  them.  And  having  heard 
them,  he  told  them  to  go — to  Russia. 

In  the  Vilayet  of  Bitlis  (Kaza  of  Boolanyk  and  Sandjak  of 
Moush)  there  is  a  village  named  Kadjloo,  which,  being  inter- 
preted, means  "Village  of  the  Cross."  It  is  a  village  of  the 
Crescent  now.  The  means  by  which  the  sudden  change  was 
effected  are  identical  in  character  with  those  already  described. 
Mohammed  Emin  led  a  number  of  Koords  (outcasts  from  the 
Djibranlee  and  Hassnanlee  tribes)  against  the  village,  took  it, 
so  to  say,  by  storm,  and,  to  use  their  own  picturesque  expres- 
'-'on,  "  sat  down  in  it." 


238  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

Happily  it  is  situated  only  five  miles  distant  from  the  seat 
of  the  Turkish  Deputy-Governor,  but,  unhappily  for  the  peo- 
ple, he  refused  to  move  a  finger,  and  they  were  all  driven  off 
like  sheep.  Perhaps  this  is  one  of  the  cases  in  which  the 
wind  is  tempered  to  the  shorn  sheep  ? 

Villages  Raided  and  Despoiled. 

Then  the  conquerors  set  about  raiding  the  neighboring  vil- 
lages, and  in  particular  Piran,  which  is  about  a  mile  further 
off  These  would  likewise  have  changed  hands  had  it  not 
been  for  a  bright  idea  of  one  of  the  chief  villagers,  at  whose 
suggestion  a  Koord  named  Assad  Agha  was  invited  to  come 
and  quarter  his  men  in  Piran,  accepting  for  himself  twenty 
corn-fields,  ten  meadows,  and  a  spacious  two-story  house,  which 
was  built  expressly  for  him  by  an  architect  from  Bitlis,  in 
return  for  which  he  undertook  to  protect  the  Armenians  from 
Mohammed  Emin  and  his  merry  men. 

Three  hundred  and  six  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the 
District  of  Khnouss  gave  me  a  signed  petition  when  I  was 
leaving  Armenia,  and  requested  me  to  lay  it  before  "the 
humane  and  noble  people  of  England."  In  this  document  they 
truly  say : 

"  We  now  solemnly  assure  you  that  the  butchery  of  Sas- 
soun  is  but  a  drop  in  the  ocean  of  Armenian  blood  shed 
gradually  and  silently  all  over  the  Empire  since  the  late 
Turko-Russian  war.  Year  by  year,  month  by  month,  day  by 
day,  innocent  men,  women  and  children  have  been  shot  down, 
stabbed,  or  clubbed  to  death  in  their  houses  and  their  fields, 
tortured  in  strange,  fiendish  ways  m  fetid  prison-cells,  or  left 
to  rot  in  exile  under  the  scorching  sun  of  Arabia. 

"During  the  progr-oS  of  that  long  and  horrible  tragedy  no 
voice  was  raised  for  mercy,  no  hand  extended  to  help  us. 
That  process  is  stili  going  on,  but  it  has  already  entered  upon 
its  final  phases,  and  the  Armenian  people  are  at  the  last  gasn. 


23d 


240  Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia. 

Is  European  sympathy  destined  to  take  the  form  of  a  cross 
upon  our  graves?" 

I  have  also  received  two  touching  appeals  from  the  women 
of  Armenia,  sealed  with  their  seals,  and  addressed  to  their 
sisters  of  England.  What  they  ask  is  indeed  little — that  they 
be  protected  from  dishonor.  And,  until  the  General  Elections 
gave  us  a  strong  Government,  which  knows  its  own  mind,  it 
seemed  as  if  these  women  were  asking  for  the  moon. 

On  November  7th  last,  a  Turk  of  the  city  of  Bayazid  asked 
Avedis  Krmoyan  to  pay  a  little  debt.  The  Armenian,  not 
having  the  money  at  the  time,  besought  his  creditor  to  wait 
a  few  weeks.  The  Turk  refused,  and  insisted  on  taking 
Krmoyan's  wife  as  a  pledge  that  the  money  would  be  paid. 
Entreaties  and  tears  were  unavailing ;  the  woman  was  carried 
off,  and  then  forced  to  become  a  Moslem.  She  can  never 
return  to  her  husband  again. 

Story  of  an  Unfortunate  Girl. 

In  the  village  of  Khosso  Veran  (Bassen)  a  girl  named  Selvy 
was  seized  by  a  Turk  as  security  for  a  debt  contracted  by  her 
father.  The  creditor  kept  her  three  months  and  dishonored 
her ;  nor  would  he  consent  to  set  her  free  until  Giragoss 
Ohannissean  went  bail  for  her.  As  the  debt,  however,  is  un- 
paid, the  Turk  has  a  mortgage  on  her  still.  This  sort  of 
thing  cannot  be  said  to  be  uncommon,  for  although  I  knew 
but  three  cases  of  it  from  personal  knowledge,  I  heard  of 
more  than  a  score  in  different  parts  of  Armenia. 

It  is  not  only  absolutely  useless,  but  often  positively  dan- 
gerous, to  complain  to  the  officials,  who,  from  high  to  low, 
take  an  active  part  in  this  Oriental  "  sport "  themselves.  The 
Kiateeb  of  Alai  entered  the  house  of  Ohannes  Goolykian  (vil- 
lage of  Karatshoban  in  Khnouss)  in  the  broad  daylight,  and 


Appalling  Condition  of  Armenia.  241 

raped  the  daughter  of  Ohannes,  who  was  fifteen  years  old,  and 
then  sent  her  off  to  Trebizond.  Her  father  complained, 
besought  the  authorities  to  restore  her,  and  it  is  only  fair  to 
say  that,  so  far  as  I  know,  he  was  not  punished  for  his 
temerity. 

A  Shameless  Demand. 

The  Deputy-Governor  of  Arabghir  actually  arrested  and 
expelled  a  number  of  the  men  of  the  town  whose  wives  were 
considered  to  be  among  the  most  handsome  women  in 
Armenia.  He  next  approached  the  latter,  but  was  received 
with  the  scorn  he  deserved.  Then  these  women  shut  them- 
selves up  in  their  houses,  refusing  to  allow  him  or  his  men  to 
enter,  whereupon  he  told  them  publicly  and  shamelessly,  that 
if  they  wished  their  husbands  to  return,  they  must  yield  to  his 
desires. 

The  following  case  is  one  in  which  I  took  a  very  lively 
interest,  because  I  am  well  acquainted  with  the  victim  and 
her  family.  Her  name  is  Lucine  Mussegh,  her  native  village 
Khnoossaberd.  Born  in  1878,  Lucine  was  sent  at  an  early 
age  to  the  American  Missionary  School  at  Erzeroum,  where 
she  was  taught  the  doctrines  of  evangelical  Christianity,  her 
father,  Aghadjan  Kemalian,  having  always  manifested  a  strong 
sympathy  for  Protestantism.  Armenian  girls  are  in  chronic 
danger  of  being  raped  by  Turks  and  Koords,  and  Armenian 
parents  are  continually  scheming  for  the  purpose  of  shielding 
them  from  this  calamity  which,  as  we  have  seen,  occasionally 
results  in  death. 

The  means  usually  employed  are  very  early  marriages  or 
attempts  to  pass  off  the  girls  as  boys.  In  the  village  of 
Ishkhoe,  for  instance,  the  daughter  of  Tepan  Agha  was 
brought  up  as  a  boy.  She  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  in 
Erzeroum,  for  this,  too,  is  a  crime.  I  have  known  children 
to  be  taken  from  school,  married,   allowed   to   live   a  few 


242  Appalling  Co7idition  of  Armenia, 

months  with  their  husbands  or  wives,  and  then  sent  back  to 
school  again.  This  is  what  happened  to  Lucine,  who,  taken 
from  school  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  was  wedded  to  a  boy  of 
her  own  age,  Milikean  by  name,  and  having  lived  some  time 
with  him  under  his  father's  roof,  was  sent  to  the  Protestant 
school  once  more. 

One  night,  during  her  husband's  absence  from  home,  she 
was  seized  by  some  men,  dragged  by  the  hair,  gagged,  and 
taken  to  the  house  of  Hussni  Bey.  Tliis  man  is  the  son  of  the 
Deputy-Governor  of  the  place.  He  dishonored  the  young 
woman,  and  sent  her  home  next  day,  but  her  husband  refused 
to  receive  her  any  more,  and  she  is  now  friendless  and  alone 
in  the  world. 

Wholesale  Butchery. 

The  massacre  of  Sassoun  sends  a  shudder  to  the  hearts  of 
the  most  callous.  But  that  butchery  was  a  divine  mercy  com- 
pared with  the  hellish  deeds  that  are  being  done  every  week 
and  every  day  of  the  year.  The  piteous  moans  of  famishing 
children ;  the  groans  of  old  men  who  have  lived  to  see  what 
can  never  be  embodied  in  words  ;  the  piercing  cries  of  vio- 
lated maidenhood,  nay,  of  tender  childhood ;  the  shrieks  of 
mothers  made  childless  by  crimes  compared  with  which 
murder  would  be  a  blessing ;  the  screams,  scarcely  human,  of 
women  writhing  under  the  lash ;  and  all  the  vain  voices  of 
blood  and  agony  that  die  away  in  that  dreary  desert  without 
having  found  a  responsive  echo  on  earth  or  in  heaven,  com- 
bine to  throw  Sassoun  and  all  its  horrors  into  the  shade. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Mr.  Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Question. 

A  MEETING  was  held  in  the  Town  Hall,  Chester,  England, 
on  the  6th  of  August,  1895,  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  the 
claims  of  the  Armenians  in  Turkey.  The  assembly  room  at 
the  Town  Hall  was  crowded  to  excess,  and  many  thousands 
of  persons  had  to  be  refused  admission. 

The  Duke  of  Westminster  presided,  and  among  those  pre- 
sent were  a  great  number  of  members  of  Parliament. 

Mr.  Gladstone,  who  was  received  with  prolonged  cheers, 
said : — My  Lord  Duke,  my  Lords,  and  Ladies  and  Gentle- 
men,— My  first  observation  shall  be  a  repetition  of  what  hac 
already  been  said  by  the  noble  Duke,  who  has  assured  you 
that  this  meeting  is  not  a  meeting  called  in  the  interests  of 
any  party  (hear,  hear),  or  having  the  smallest  connection  with 
those  differences  of  opinion  which  naturally  and  warrantably 
in  this  free  country  will  spring  up  in  a  complex  state  of 
afifkirs,  dividing  us  on  certain  questions  man  from  man. 
(Hear,  hear.) 

But,  my  Lord  Duke,  it  is  satisfactory  to  observe  that  free- 
dom of  opinion  and  even  these  divisions  themselves  upon 
certain  questions  give  increased  weight  and  augmented 
emphasis  to  the  concurrence  of  the  people  to  the  cordial 
agreement  of  the  whole  nation  in  these  matters  where  the 
broad  principles  of  common  humanity  and  common  justice 
prevail.     (Cheers.) 

243 


244         Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Question, 

A  Question  of  Hiunanity. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  the  Government  whose  deeds  we 
have  to  impeach  is  a  Mahometan  Government,  and  it  is  per- 
fectly true  that  the  sufferers  under  those  outrages,  under  those 
afflictions,  are  Christian  sufferers.  The  Mahometan  subjects 
of  Turkey  suffer  a  great  deal,  but  what  they  suffer  is  only  in 
the  way  of  the  ordinary  excesses  and  defects  of  an  intolerably 
bad  Government — perhaps  the  worst  on  the  face  of  the  earth. 
(Hear,  hear.)  That  which  we  have  now  to  do  is,  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  the  opening  up  of  an  entirely  new  chapter.  It  is  not 
a  question  of  indifferent  laws  indifferently  enforced.  It  is  not 
ft  question  of  administrative  violence  .and  administrative  abusr 
It  cuts  further  and  goes  to  the  root  of  all  that  concerns  human 
life  in  its  elementary  conditions. 

But  this  I  will  say,  that  if,  instead  of  dealing  with  the 
Turkish  Government,  and  impeaching  it  for  its  misdeeds 
towards  Christian  subjects,  we  were  dealing  with  a  Christian 
Government  that  was  capable  of  similar  misdeeds  towards 
Mahometan  subjects,  our  indignation  ought  to  be  not  less, 
but  greater,  than  it  is  now.  (Cheers.)  Well,  I  will  take  the 
liberty  of  reading  a  resolution  which  has  been  placed  in  my 
hands,  and  which  seems  to  me  to  express  with  firmness,  but 
with  moderation,  the  opinions  which  I  am  very  confident  this 
meeting  will  entertain,  and  this  meeting,  in  entertaining  such 
opinions,  is  but  the  representative  of  the  country  at  large. 
(Cheers.) 

American  Sympathy  for  Armenia. 

Allow  me  to  go  further  and  to  say  that  the  country  at  large 
in  entertaining  these  ideas  is  only  a  representative  of  civilized 
humanity,  and  I  will  presume  to  speak  on  the  ground,  in  part, 
of  personal  knowledge;  I  will  presume  to  speak  of  the  opinions 
and  sympathies  that  are  entertained  in  that  part  which  is  most 


Gladstone  dn  the  Armenian  Question.        245 

remote  from  Armenia — I  mean  among  our  own  Transatlantic 
brethren  of  the  United  States.  If  possible,  the  sentiment  in 
America  entertained  on  the  subject  of  these  recent  occurrences 
is  even  more  vivid  and  even  stronger,  if  it  can  be,  than  that 
which  beats  in  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  this  country. 

The  Resolution. 

The  terms  of  the  resolution  are  as  follows  : 

"  That  this  meeting  expresses  its  conviction  that  her  Majes- 
ty's Government  will  have  the  cordial  support  of  the  entire 
nation,  without  distinction  of  party,  in  any  measures  which  it 
may  adopt  for  securing  to  the  people  of  Turkish  Armenia 
such  reforms  in  the  administration  of  that  province  as  shall 
provide  effective  guarantees  for  the  safety  of  life,  honor,  re- 
ligion, and  property,  and  that  no  reforms  can  be  effective 
which  are  not  placed  under  the  continuous  control  of  the 
Great  Powers  of  Europe."     (Cheers.) 

That  means,  without  doubt,  the  great  Powers  of  Europe, 
all  who  choose  to  combine,  and  those  great  Powers  which 
happily  have  combined  and  have  already,  in  my  judgment, 
pledged  their  honor,  as  well  as  their  power,  to  the  attainment 
of  the  object  we  have  in  view.     (Cheers.) 

The  Atrocities  Proved. 

Now,  it  was  my  fate,  I  think  some  six  or  more  months  ago, 
to  address  a  very  limited  number,  not  a  public  assembly,  but 
a  limited  number  of  Armenian  gentlemen,  and  gentlemen 
interested  in  Armenia,  on  this  subject ;  and  at  that  time  I  ven- 
tured to  point  out  that  one  of  our  duties  was  to  avoid  prema- 
ture judgments. 

There  was  no  authoritative  and  impartial  declaration  before 
the  world  at  that  period  on  the  subject  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Sassoun  massacre;  that  massacre  to  which  the  noble  duke 
has  alluded,  and  with  respect  to  which,  horrible  as  that  mas- 


246         Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Question. 

sacre  was,  one  of  the  most  important  witnesses  in  this  case 
declares  that  it  is  thrown  into  the  shade,  and  has  become  pale 
and  ineffective  by  the  side  of  the  unspeakable  horrors  which 
are  being  enacted  from  month  to  month,  from  week  to  week, 
and  day  to  day,  in  the  different  provinces  of  Armenia.  (Cheers.) 

It  was  a  duty  to  avoid  premature  judgment,  and  I  think  it 
was  avoided.  There  was  a  great  reserve ;  but  at  last  the  en- 
gine of  dispassionate  inquiry  was  brought  to  bear,  and  then 
it  was  found  that  another  duty,  very  important  in  general  in 
these  cases,  really  in  this  particular  instance  had  no  particular 
place  at  all,  and  though  it  is  a  duty  to  avoid  exaggeration — 
a  most  sacred  duty — it  is  a  duty  that  has  little  or  no  place  in 
the  case  before  us,  because  it  is  too  well  known  that  the 
powers  of  language  hardly  suffice  to  describe  what  has  been 
and  is  being  done,  and  that  exaggeration,  if  we  were  ever  so 
much  disposed  to  it,  is  in  such  a  case  really  beyond  our.  powrr. 
(Cheers.) 

Those  are  dreadful  words  to  speak.  It  is  a  painful  office  to 
perform,  and  nothing  but  a  strong  sense  of  duty  could  gather 
us  together  between  these  walls  or  could  induce  a  man  of  my 
age,  and  a  man  who  is  not  wholly  without  other  difficulties  to 
contend  with,  to  resign  for  the  moment  that  repose  and 
quietude  which  are  the  last  of  many  great  earthly  blessings 
remaining  to  him,  in  order  to  invite  you  to  enter  into  a  con- 
sideration of  this  question — I  will  not  say  in  order  to  invite 
you  to  allow  yourselves  to  be  flooded  with  the  sickening 
details  that  it  involves. 

I  shall  not  attempt  to  lead  you  into  that  dreadful  field,  but 
I  make  this  appeal  to  you.  I  do  hope  that  every  one  of  you 
will  for  himself  and  herself  endeavor,  in  such  a  degree  as 
your  position  may  allow  of  you  to  endeavor,  to  acquire  some 
acquaintance  with  them  (hear,  hear),  because  I  know  that, 
when  I  say  that  a  case  of  this  kind  puts  exaggeration  out  of 


Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Question.        247 

the  question,  I  am  making  a  very  broad  assertion,  which 
would  in  most  cases  be  violent,  which  would  in  all  ordinary 
cases  be  unwarrantable. 

But  those  who  will  go  through  the  process  I  have  de.scribed, 
or  even  a  limited  portion  of  the  process,  will  find  that  the 
words  are  not  too  strong  for  the  occasion.  (Cheers.)  What 
witnesses  ought  we  to  call  before  us  ?  I  should  be  disposed 
to  say  that  it  matters  very  little  what  witnesses  you  call.  So 
far  as  the  character  of  the  testimony  you  will  receive  is  con- 
cerned, the  witnesses  are  all  agreed.  At  the  time  that  I  have 
just  spoken  of,  six  or  eight  months  ago,  they  were  private 
witnesses. 

Since  that  time,  although  we  have  not  seen  the  detailed 
documents  of  public  authority,  yet  we  know  that  all  the 
broader  statements  which  had  been  made  up  to  that  time  and 
which  have  made  the  blood  of  this  nation  run  cold  have  been 
confirmed  and  verified.  They  have  not  been  overstated,  not 
withdrawn,  not  qualified,  not  reduced,  but  confirmed  in  all  their 
breadth,  in  all  their  horrible  substance,  in  all  their  sickening 
details.     (Hear,  hear.) 

American  Witnesses. 

And  here  I  may  say  that  it  is  not  merely  European  wit- 
nesses*with  whom  we  have  to  deal.  We  have  American 
witnesses  also  in  the  field,  and  the  testimony  of  the  American 
witnesses  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  European ;  but  it  is  of 
still  greater  importance,  and  for  this  reason — that  everybody 
knows  that  America  has  no  separate  or  sinister  political 
interest  of  any  kind  in  the  affairs  of  the  Levant. 

She  comes  into  court  perfectly  honest  and  perfectly  uiisus- 
pectcd,  and  that  which  she  says  possesses  on  that  account  a 
double  weight.  I  will  not  refer  to  the  witnesses  in  particular, 
as  I  have  been  told  you  will   receive  a  statement  by  my 


248         Gladstone  on  the  Armenian   Question. 

reverend  friend,  Canon  McColl,  who  is  one  of  them  (cheers)  ; 
but  I  beheve  they  are  absolutely  agreed,  that  there  is  no  shade 
of  difference  prevailing  among  them. 

Endorsement  of  Dr.  Dillon. 

I  will  refer  to  the  last  of  these  witnesses,  one  whom  I  must 
say  I  am  disposed  to  name  with  honor:  it  is  Dr.  Dillon 
(cheers),  whose  name  has  appeared  within  the  last  three  or 
four  days  at  the  foot  of  an  article  of  unusual  length — Ah ! 
and  good  were  the  reasons  for  extending  it  to  an  unusual 
length — in  the  Contemporary  Review.  (Cheers.)  Perhaps  you 
will  ask,  as  I  asked,  "  Who  is  Dr.  Dillon  ?  "  and  I  am  able  to 
describe  him  to  his  honor. 

Dr.  Dillon  is  a  man  who,  as  the  special  commissioner  of  the 
Daily  Telegraph  newspaper,  some  months  ago,  with  care  and 
labor,  and  with  the  hazard  of  his  life  (hear,  hear),  went  into 
Turkey,  laudably  making  use  of  a  disguise  for  the  purpose, 
and  went  into  Armenia,  so  that  he  might  make  himself 
thoroughly  master  of  the  facts.  (Cheers.)  He  published  his 
results  before  any  public  authority  had  given  utterance  to  its 
judgments  and  those  results  which  he,  I  rather  think,  was  the 
first  to  give  to  the  world  in  a  connected  shape — at  any  rate 
he  was  very  early  in  the  field — those  results  have  been  com- 
pletely confirmed  and  established  by  the  inquiries  of  the  dele- 
gates appointed  by  the  three  Powers — England,  France  and 
Russia.     (Cheers.) 

I  say  he  has,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  acquired  a  title  to  be. 
believed,  and  here  he  gives  us  an  account  which  bears  upon 
it  all  the  marks  of  truth,  but  which,  at  the  same  time  that  we 
must  believe  it  to  be  true,  you  would  say  is  hardly  credible. 
Unhappily  some  of  those  matters  which  are  not  credible  do, 
in  this  strange  and  wayward  world  of  ours,  turn  out  to  be 
true;  and  here  it  is  hardly  credible  that  there  can  dwell  in 


Gladstone  on  the  Armenian   Question.        249 

the  human  form  a  spirit  of  such  intense  and  diabolical  wicked- 
ness as  is  unhappily  displayed  in  some  of  the  narratives  Dr. 
Dillon  has  laid  before  the  world. 

I  shall  not  quote  from  them  in  detail,  though  I  mean  to 
make  a  single  citation,  which  will  be  a  citation,  if  I  may  say  so, 
rather  of  principle  than  of  detail.  I  shall  not  quote  the  details, 
but  I  will  say  to  you  that  when  you  begin  to  read  them  you 
will  see  the  truth  of  what  I  just  now  said — namely,  that  we 
are  not  dealing  at  all  with  a  common  and  ordinary  question 
of  abuses  of  government  or  the  defects  of  them.  We  are 
dealing  with  something  that  goes  far  deeper,  far  wider,  and 
that  imposes  upon  us  and  upon  you  far  heavier  obligations. 

The  Four  Crimes. 

The  whole  substance  of  this  remarkable  article — and  it 
agrees,  as  I  have  said,  with  the  testimony  of  the  other  wit- 
nesses— I  am  quoting  it  because  it  is  the  latest — the  whole 
substance  of  this  article  may  be  summed  up  in  four  awful 
words — plunder,  murder,  rape  and  torture.  ("  Shame.")  Every 
incident  turns  upon  one  or  upon  several  of  those  awful  words. 
Plunder  and  murder  you  would  think  are  bad  enough,  but 
plunder  and  murder  are  almost  venial  by  the  side  of  the  work 
of  the  ravisher  and  the  work  of  the  torturer,  as  it  is  described 
in  th-^se  pages,  and  as  it  is  now  fully  and  authentically  known 
to  be  going  on. 

I  will  keep  my  word,  and  I  will  not  be  tempted  by — what 
shall  I  say? — the  dramatic  interest  attached  to  such  exaggera- 
tion of  human  action  as  we  find  here  to  travel  into  the  details 
of  the  facts.  They  are  fitter  for  private  perusal  than  they  are 
for  public  discussion.  I  will  not  be  tempted  to  travel  into 
them ;  I  will  ask  you  for  a  moment,  any  of  you  who  have  not 
yourselves  verified  the  particulars  of  the  case,  to  credit  me 


250         Gladstone  on  tht  Armenian  Question. 

with  speaking  the  truth,  until  I  go  on  to  consider  who  are  the 
doers  of  these  deeds. 

In  all  ordinary  cases,  when  we  have  before  us  instances  of 
crime,  perhaps  of  very  horrible  crime — for  example,  there  is  a 
sad  story  in  the  papers  to-day  of  a  massacre  in  a  portion  of 
China — we  at  once  assume  that  in  all  countries,  unfortunately, 
there  are  malefactors,  there  are  plunderers  whose  deeds  we 
are  going  to  consider. 

Here,  my  lord  duke,  it  is  nothing  of  the  kind ;  we  have 
nothing  to  do  here  with  what  are  called  the  dangerous  classes 
of  the  community;  it  is  not  their  proceedings  which  you  are 
asked  to  consider ;  it  is  the  proceedings  of  the  Government 
of  Constantinople  and  its  agents.     (Cheers.) 

The  Turkish  Government  Responsible. 

There  is  not  one  of  these  misdeeds  for  which  the  Govern- 
ment of  Constantinople  is  not  morally  responsible.  (Cheers.) 
Now,  who  are  these  agents  ?  Let  me  tell  you  very  briefly. 
They  fall  into  three  classes.  The  first  have  been  mentioned 
by  the  noble  duke — namely,  the  savage  Kurds,  who  are, 
unhappily,  the  neighbors  of  the  Armenians,  the  Armenians 
being  the  representatives  of  one  of  the  oldest  civilized  Chris- 
tian races,  and  being,  beyond  all  doubt,  one  of  the  most  paci- 
fic, one  of  the  most  industrious,  and  one  of  the  most  intelli- 
gent races  in  the  world.     (Cheers.) 

These  Kurds  are  by  them ;  they  are  wild,  savage  clans. 
There  was  but  one  word,  my  lord  duke,  in  your  address  that 
I  should  have  been  disposed  to  literally  criticise,  and  it  was 
the  expression  that  fell  from  you  that  the  Sultan  had  "  organ- 
ized "  these  Kurds.  They  are,  in  my  belief,  in  no  sense 
organized — that  is  to  say,  there  is  no  more  organization 
among  them  than  is  to  be  found,  say,  in  a  band  of  robbers  ; 
they  have  no  other  organization,  being  nothing  but  a  band  of 
robbers.     (Cheers.) 


Gladstone  on  the  Armeniari   Question.        251 

These  the  Sultan  and  the  Government  at  Constantinople 
have  enrolled,  though  in  a  nominal  fashion,  not  without  mili- 
tary discipline,  into  pretended  cavalry  regiments  and  then  set 
them  loose  with  the  authority  of  soldiers  of  the  Sultan  to 
harry  and  destroy  the  people  of  Armenia.  (Cheers.)  Well, 
these  Kurds  are  the  first  of  the  agents  in  this  horrible  busi- 
ness ;  the  next  are  the  Turkish  soldiers,  who  are  in  no  sense 
behind  the  Kurds  in  their  performances ;  the  third  are  the 
peace  officers,  the  police  and  the  tax-gatherers  of  the  Turkish 
Government;  and  there  seems  to  be  a  deadly  competition 
among  all  these  classes  which  shall  most  prove  itself  an  adept 
in  the  horrible  and  infernal  work  that  is  before  them,  but  above 
them  and  more  guilty  than  they,  are  the  higher  officers  of  the 
Turkish  Government. 

You  will  find,  if  you  look  into  this  paper  of  Dr.  Dillon's, 
that  at  every  point  he  has  exposed  himself  to  confutation  if 
what  he  says  is  inaccurate  or  untrue.  He  gives  names,  titles, 
places,  dates,  every  particular  which  would  enable  the  Turkish 
Government  to  track  him  out  and  detect  him  and  hold  him 
up  to  public  reprobation. 

Three  Propositions. 

You  will  never  hear  of  an  answer  from  the  Turkish  Gov- 
ernment to  that  article.  That  may  be  a  bold  thing  for  me  to 
say;  but  I  am  confident  you  will  never  hear  an  answer  from 
them  which  shall  follow  these  statements  of  Dr.  Dillon's, 
based  on  his  own  personal  experience,  through  the  details,  and 
attempt  to  shake  the  fabric  of  grievously  composed  materials 
which  he  has  built  up  in  the  face  of  the  world. 

I  think  there  are  certain  matters,  such  as  those  which  have 
been  discussed  to-day  and  discussed  in  many  other  forms,  on 
which  it  is  perfectly  possible  to  make  up  our  minds.  And 
what  I  should  say  is,  that  the  whole  position  may  be  summed 


252         Gladstone  on  tJte  Arnie7iian  Question. 

up  in  three  brief  propositions.  I  do  not  know  to  which  of 
these  propositions  to  assign  the  less  or  the  greater  importance. 
It  appears  to  me  that  they  are  probably  each  and  every  one  of 
them  absolutely  indispensable.  The  first  proposition  is  this, 
You  ought  to  moderate  your  demands. 

You  ought  to  ask  for  nothing  but  that  which  is  strictly 
necessary,  and  that  possibly  according  to  all  that  we  know  of 
the  proposals  before  us,  the  rule  has  been  rigidly  complied 
with.  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  the 
cleanest  and  clearest  method  of  dealing  with  this  subject,  if 
we  should  have  done  it,  would  have  been  to  tell  the  Turk  to 
march  out  of  Armenia.  (Loud  cheers.)  He  has  no  right  to 
remain  there,  and  it  would  have  been  an  excellent  settlement 
of  the  question. 

Accept  no  Turkish  Promises. 

But  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  Europe  or  even  the  three 
Powers  would  have  been  unanimous  in  seeking  after  that  end. 
Therefore,  let  us  part  with  everything  except  what  is  known 
to  be  indispensable.  Then  I  come  to  the  other  two  rules,  and 
of  these  the  first  is  that  you  should  accept  no  Turkish 
promises.  (Hear,  hear.)  They  are  absolutely  and  entirely 
worthless.  They  are  worse  than  worthless,  because  they  may 
serVe  to  delude  a  few  persons  who,  without  information  or 
experience,  naturally  would  suppose,  when  promises  are  given, 
that  there  is  something  like  an  intention  of  fulfillment.  Recol- 
.  lect  that  no  scheme  is  worth  having  unless  it  be  supported  by 
/efficient  guarantees  entirely  outside  the  promises  oftheTurk- 
-ish  Government.     (Applause.) 

There  is  another  word  which  I  must  speak,  and  it  is  this : 
Don't  be  too  much  afraid  if  you  hear  introduced  into  this 
discussion  a  word  that  I  admit,  in  ordinary  cases,  ought  to  be 
excluded  from  all  diplomatic  proceeding,  namely,  the  word 


Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Question.        253 

coercion.  Coercion  is  a  word  perfectly  well  understood  in 
Constantinople,  and  it  is  a  word  highly  appreciated  in  Con- 
stantinople. It  is  a  drastic  dose — (laughter) — which  never 
fails  of  its  aim  when  it  is  administered  in  that  quarter. 
(Laughter.) 

Gentlemen,  I  would  not  use  these  words  if  I  had  not  myself 
personally  had  large  and  close  experience  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  Turkish  Government.  I  say,  first  make  your  case 
good,  and  when  your  case  is  made  good,  determine  that  it 
shall  prevail.  (Cheers.)  Grammar  has  something  to  do  with 
this  case.  Recollect  that  while  the  word  "  ought "  sounded 
in  Constantinople,  passes  in  thin  air,  and  has  no  force  or 
solidity  whatever  attaching  to  it ;  on  the  contrary,  the  brother 
or  sister  monosyllable,  the  word  "  must "  is  perfectly  under- 
stood— (cheers) — and  it  is  a  known  fact  supported  by  positive 
experience,  which  can  be  verified  upon  the  map  of  Europe, 
that  a  timely  and  judicious  use  of  this  word  never  fails  in  its 
effect.     (Cheers.) 

Gentlemen,  I  must  point  out  to  you  that  we  have  reached 
a  very  critical  position  indeed.  How  are  three  great  Govern- 
ments in  Europe,  ruling  a  population  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred million  souls,  with  perhaps  eight  or  ten  times  the  popu- 
lation of  Turkey,  with  twenty  times  the  wealth  of  Turkey, 
with  fifty  times  the  influence  and  power  of  Turkey,  who  have 
committed  themselves  in  this  matter  before  the  world,  I  put 
it  to  you  that  if  they  recede  before  an  irrational  resistance — 
and  remember  that  I  have  in  the  first  instance  postulated  that 
our  demands  should  be  reasonable — if  they  recede  before  the 
irrational  resistance  of  the  Sultan  and  the  Ottoman  Govern- 
ment, they  are  disgraced  in  the  face  of  the  world. 

Every  motive  of  duty  coincides  with  every  motive  of  self- 
respect,  and,  my  lord  duke,  you  yourself  let  drop  a  word 
which  is  a  frightful  word,  unhappily  not  wholly  out  of  placej 
^ind  that  th^  word  13 


254         Gladstone  on  the  Armenian  Question. 

**  Extermination." 

There  has  gone  abroad — I  don't  say  that  I  feel  myself  com- 
petent to  judge  the  matter,  I  don't  think  I  do,  but  there  has 
gone  abroad,  and  there  is  widely  entertained  a  belief,  that  the 
recent  proceedings  of  the  Turkish  Government  in  Armenia 
particularly,  but  not  in  Armenia  exclusively,  are  founded  upon 
deliberate  determination  to  exterminate  the  Christians  in  that 
Empire.  I  hope  it  is  not  true,  but  at  the  same  time  I  must 
say  that  there  are  evidences  tending  to  support  it — (hear, 
hear) — and  the  grand  evidence  which  tends  to  support  it  is 
this :  the  perfect  infatuation  of  the  Turkish  Government. 
Now,  in  my  time  there  have  been  periods  when  Turkey  was 
ruled  by  men  of  honesty  and  ability. 

I  will  say  that,  until  about  thirty  years  ago,  you  could  trust 
the  word  of  the  Turkish  Government  as  well  as  any  Govern- 
ment in  Europe;  you  might  not  approve  of  their  proceedings, 
but  you  could  trust  their  word;  but  a  kind  of  judicial  infatua- 
tion appears  to  have  come  down  upon  them.  What  has  hap- 
pened in  Turkey?  To  hear  of  this  vaunting  on  the  part  of 
its  Government,  and  this  game  of  brag  that  is  from  time  to 
time  being  played,  that  it  cannot  compromise  its  dignity,  it 
cannot  waive  any  of  its  rights. 

What  would  come  of  its  rights  in  one-third  part  of  its 
empire  ?  Within  my  lifetime  Turkey  has  been  reduced  by 
one-third  part  of  her  territory,  and  sixteen  or  eighteen  millions 
of  people,  inhabiting  some  of  the  most  beautiful  and  formerly 
most  famous  countries  in  the  world,  who  were  under  the 
Ottoman  rule,  are  now  as  free  as  we  are.     (Cheers.) 

The  Ottoman  Government  are  as  well  aware  of  that  as  we, 
and  yet  we  find  it  pursuing  these  insane  courses.  On  the 
other  hand,  my  lord  duke  most  judiciously  referred  to  the 
plan  of  Government  that  was  introduced  in  the  Lebanon  about 
r86i,  whereby  a  reasonable  share  of  stability  to  local  institu- 


Gladstone  on  the  Aymenian   Question.        255 

tions  and  popular  control  has  been  given  in  Turkey,  and  the 
results  have  been  most  satisfactory. 

There  is  also  a  part  of  the  country,  although  not  a  very 
large  part,  where  something  like  local  self-government  is  per- 
mitted, and  it  has  been  very  hopeful  in  its  character.  But 
when  we  see  these  things — on  the  one  hand  that  these  experi- 
ments, in  a  sense  of  justice,  have  all  succeeded,  and  that  when 
adapted  to  the  Greeks  and  the  Bulgarians,  and  four  of  five 
other  States,  have  resulted  in  the  loss  of  those  States,  then  I 
say  that  the  Turkish  Government  is  evidently  in  such  a  state 
of  infatuation  that  it  is  fain  to  believe  it  may,  under  certain 
circumstances,  be  infatuated  enough  to  scheme  the  extermi- 
nation of  the  Christian  population. 

Well,  this  is  a  sad  and  terrible  story,  and  I  have  been  a 
very  long  time  in  telling  it,  but  a  very  small  part  of  it;  but  I 
hope  that,  having  heard  the  terms  of  the  resolution  that  wiU 
be  submitted  to  you,  you  will  agree  that  a  case  is  made  ou.. 
(Cheers.)  I  for  one,  for  the  sake  of  avoiding  other  complica- 
tions, would  rejoice  if  the  Government  of  Turkey  would  come 
to  its  senses.  If  only  men  like  Friad  Piicha  and  Ali  Pacha, 
who  were  in  the  Government  of  Turkey  after  the  Crimean 
War,  could  be  raised  from  the  dead  and  could  inspire  the 
Turkish  policy  with  their  spirit  and  with  their  principles  ! 

That  is,  in  my  opinion,  what  we  ought  all  to  desire,  and 
though  it  would  be  more  agreeable  to  clear  Turkey  than  to 
find  her  guilty  of  these  terrible  charges,  yet,  if  we  have  the 
smallest  regard  to  humanity,  if  we  are  sensible  at  all  of  what 
is  due  to  our  own  honor,  after  the  steps  which  have  been 
taken  within  the  last  twelve  or  eighteen  months,  we  must 
interfere.  We  must  be  careful  to  demand  no  more  than  what 
IS  just — but  at  least  as  much  as  is  necessary — and  we  must 
be  determined  that,  with  the  help  of  God,  that  which  is  neces- 
sary and  that  which  is  just  shall  be  done,  whether  there  will 
be  a  response  or  whether  there  be  none.     (Loud  cheers.) 


CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Cry  from  Armenia. 

As  ve  look  farther  into  the  details  of  the  crimes  committed 
under  Mohammedan  rule,  we  are  more  and  more  shocked  by 
the  appalling  record.  From  the  most  trustworthy  sources, 
from  eye-witnesses  and  from  letters  received  in  America  and 
other  countries,  written,  many  of  them,  by  missionaries,  we 
are  able  to  obtain  some  faint  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  these 
terrible  outrages. 

Early  in  October,  1895,  a  serious  outbreak  occurred  at 
Constantinople,  of  which  one  of  the  religious  journals  giveL 
the  following  account : 

It  is  the  expected  that  has  happened.  A  riot  has  occurred 
in  Constantinople  itself,  directly  under  the  eyes  of  the  foreign 
ambassadors,  and  three  or  four  Turks  have  been  killed,  and 
as  many  hundred  Armenians  are  dead  or  missing,  and  busi- 
ness is  interrupted,  and  men,  women  and  children  are  crowd- 
ing the  Armenian  churches,  and  the  garden  of  the  British 
Ambassador. 

The  Huntchagist  Armenians,  on  the  one  hand,  and  the 
Moslem  softas,  on  the  other,  have  for  a  long  time  been 
spoiling  for  a  fight.  The  Armenians  have  been  goaded  to 
exasperation  by  the  long  delays  connected  with  the  effort  to 
institute  reforms  in  the  Empire.  They  have  said  repeatedly 
that  there  was  no  hope  until  such  a  disturbance  was  raised 
that  the  Powers  would  be  compelled  to  intervene.  So  also 
the  softas  have  been  sfrr'^d  more  than  usually  by  the  talk  of 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  257 

partition  of  the  Turkish   Empire,  and  the  loss  of  Ottoman 
prestige. 

The  bitter  denunciation  by  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  the  even 
more  significant  threat  of  Lord  Salisbury,  have  been  well 
understood  throughout  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  have  giver 
force  to  the  claim  set  forth  by  the  Ulema  that  the  present 
course  was  sure  to  end  in  disaster ;  that  if  Ottoman  glory 
was  to  be  restored,  Ottoman  methods  must  be  resumed. 

Cause  of  the  Outbreak. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  the  disturbance  was  simple. 
A  petition  to  the  Sultan  is  recognized  by  all  as  within  the 
right  of  every  citizen.  The  appearance,  however,  of  a  large 
number  of  armed  Armenians  bearing  the  petition  was  dis- 
tinctly revolutionary  in  its  aspect,  and,  though  promptly  met 
by  the  police,  proved  too  much  for  the  excited  Moslem 
imagination,  and  rumors  spread  rapidly  through  the  city 
which  called  out  the  Turkish  students.  Once  out  they  cared 
little  where  they  went  or  what  they  did.  The  police  were 
inefficient,  and  for  a  time  there  was  a  veritable  reign  of  terror. 
The  Government  recognizing  the  gravity  of  the  situation, 
called  out  its  military,  and  compelled  both  students  and 
Armenians  to  keep  the  peace. 

More  significant  than  anything  else,  however,  is  the 
appointment  of  Kiamil  Pasha  as  Grand  Vizier.  He  is  by 
far  the  ablest  statesman  in  Turkey.  His  predecessor,  Said 
Pasha,  was  a  politician  pure  and  simple.  Kiamil  is  a  friend 
of  England ;  Said,  a  tool  of  Russia.  When  the  former  was 
in  office  the  country  enjoyed  peace  and  prosperity  such  as  it 
has  not  had  any  time  for  half  a  century  and  more.  Whether 
he  will  be  strong  enough  to  stay  the  influences  now  at  work 
remains  to  be  seen,  especially  if  Said  remains  as  Minister  of 
Foreign  Affairs. 
17 


258  The  Cry  from  Armenia. 

But  most  important  is  the  action  taken  by  the  representa- 
tives of  the  powers,  who  have  sent  a  collective  note  to  the 
Porte,  and  put  their  guard-ships  where  they  can  protect 
foreigners.  Sir  Philip  Currie,  the  British  Representative, 
demands  that  arrests  shall  cease  and  amnesty  be  given  to 
those  arrested.  He  also  peremptorily  requires  a  public  proc- 
lamation, accepting  the  demands  of  the  powers,  and  tells  the 
Porte  that  the  accession  of  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  implies  no 
change  in  the  attitude  of  Great  Britain.  This  is  welcome 
news  and  disposes  of  disquieting  rumors. 

Our  Missions  in  Turkey. 

The  following,  concerning  American  missions  in  Turkey,  is 
of  special  interest.  It  is  the  statement  of  The  Independent,  the 
well-known  journal : 

In  our  mission  columns  we  give  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  situation  of  the  American  missionaries  in  Turkey 
That  situation  is  indeed  perilous  in  the  extreme.  While  as 
yet  we  have  no  word  of  loss  of  life,  there  is  no  telling  what 
news  any  day  may  bring,  not  merely  from  the  interior  cities, 
but  from  Constantinople  itself.  We  wish  that  it  were  possible 
for  us  to  tell,  or  even  to  know,  the  full  story  of  heroism.  The 
facts  will  be  known  in  time,  and  then  we  shall  realize  the  calm 
courage  that  has  faced,  and  still  faces,  difficulties  and  dangers 
that  recall  the  stories  of  the  Indian  mutiny  and  the  early 
experiences  in  the  South  Seas. 

TJiat  protection  against  these  dangers  has  been  repeatedly 
promised,  and  as  repeatedly  denied,  makes  them  not  less  but 
more  fearful ;  and  with  the  admiration  for  the  heroism  there 
stirs  also  a  sense  of  indignation  that  combined  Christendom 
should  stand  aghast  before  gangs  of  Kurds,  and  believe  the 
weak  lies  of  a  treacherous  Sultan. 

We  confess   also  to  an  even   deeper  indignation   that  at 


The  Cry  from  Armenia. 


259 


such  a  crisis  great  metropolitan  dailies  should  sneer  at  the 
work  of  these  missionaries  as  indicating  a  "  disease  of  moral 
hysteria,"  and  should  calmly  talk  about  the  "  failures  "  of  mis- 


ARMENIAN   REFUGEES. 


sions.  To  be  sure  they  do  not  agree,  and  one  approves  what 
the  other  disapproves,  but  the  ignorance  and  lofty  disdain 
displayed  make  us  ashamed  for  them. 

For  sixty-four  years  the  American  Churches  have  been 
carrying  on   mission  work   in   the  Turkish   Empire.      The 


260  The  Cry  from  Armenia, 

principal  agent  has  been  the  American  Board ;  but  the  organi- 
zations of  the  Presbyterians,  Jleformed  Presbyterians  and 
Disciples  of  Christ  have  been  represented  in  Syria,  Northern 
Syria  and  Mesopotamia.  During  that  time  they  have  started 
and  developed  five  colleges  for  young  men,  one  for  young 
women,  besides  a  large  number  of  seminaries,  academies  and 
training  schools  of  a  high  grade. 

They  have  inaugurated  a  system  of  common  schools  all 
over  the  Empire  of  such  excellence  and  influence  that  every 
other  community,  however  hostile  to  Protestant  Christianity, 
has  felt  compelled,  in  self-preservatiou,  to  establish  similar 
ones  for  itself,  so  that  not  merely  Armenians,  Greeks, 
Jacobites  and  Maronites  have  raised  their  standard  of  educa- 
tion, but  the  Moslems  themselves  have  learned  to  boast  of 
their  girls'  schools,  a  thing  unknown  before  the  missionaries 
landed  in  Smyrna. 

Power  of  Islam  in  Danger. 

Hand  in  hand  with  education  has  gone  general  literature. 
It  is  well  known  that  one  of  the  most  potent  influences  for 
Bulgarian  freedom  was  the  weekly  Zornitza,  published  by  the 
missionaries ;  and  their  various  Armenian  and  Greek  papers 
have  had  a  marked  effect  not  only  in  the  establishment  but  in 
the  development  of  journalism,  while  their  translations  of  the 
Bible  into  the  spoken  language  of  the  people,  and  thei*" 
preparation  of  other  books,  have  stimulated  the  people  to  a 
degree  that  can  scarcely  be  exaggerated.  They  were  wise 
mollahs  who  used  to  shake  their  heads  as  they  passed  the 
Bible  House  in  Constantinople  and  muttered  imprecations 
upon  the  men  who  more  than  any  one  else  were  endangering 
the  power  of  Islam. 

The  outrages  at  Harput,  of  which  horrifying  accounts  have 
been  given,  are  fully  depicted  in  the  subjoined  letter  from  a 
missionary : 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  261 

The  world  will  have  heard  of  the  physical  side  of  the  dis- 
asters which  have  come  upon  this  country.  The  moral  aspect 
is  still  more  deplorable.  When  the  Saracens  conquered  these 
lands,  they  offered  the  people  the  alternatives,  the  Koran, 
tribute  or  the  sword.  These  Moslems  first  strip  the  people  of 
everything,  commit  other  nameless  outrages,  and  then  the 
only  alternative  presented  is  Islam  or  death;  and  this  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  Hundreds  of  people  have  accepted 
martyrdom  rather  than  deny  their  faith.  Many  more,  some 
from  fear  of  death,  and  others  to  save  their  families  from  a 
fate  worse  than  death,  have  formally  accepted  Moham- 
medanism. 

Ohurclies  Turned  into  Mosques. 

In  most  of  the  villages  and  towns  in  this  region,  the 
majority  of  the  survivors  who  Were  not  able  to  flee,  are  now 
professed  Moslems.  Throughout  all  this  wide  HarpCit  mis- 
sion field,  there  is  probably  scarcely  a  Christian  service  held 
among  Gregorians  or  Protestants  outside  of  this  quarter  of 
the  city.  Although  the  church  here  was  burned,  our  Sunday 
services  have  been  maintained  in  the  college. 

Churches  have  become  mosques,  and  the  trembling  Chris- 
tians are  taught  to  pray  after  the  Mohammedan  form. 
Schools,  of  course,  are  disbanded,  although  we  are  gathering 
together  the  boys  of  our  male  department  at  the  college;  and 
we  hope  to  do  the  same  for  girls,  if  we  can  secure  rooms  out- 
side, as  the  girls'  college  is  a  complete  ruin. 

Every  day,  from  morning  till  night,  our  hearts  are  torn 
by  the  recital  of  most  horrible  tales  of  bloodshed  and  outrage 
and  heartless  persecution.  Some  of  our  best  and  worthiest 
men  tell  of  the  agony  which  they  sufifer  from  the  position 
which  they  hold  as  Mohammedans  in  form,  while  their  whole 
being  revolts  against  it.  They  say :  "  We  would  welcome 
martyrdom  with  cruel  torture,  if  only  our  wives  and  children 


262  The  Cry  from  Armenia. 

could  be  saved  from  the  clutches  of  these  men  by  death  or  by 
some  sort  of  freedom.  We  have  gladly  surrendered  our 
homes  to  the  flames  and  our  property  to  plunder;  but  we 
cannot  sacrifice  our  families." 

Here  is  a  very  serious  problem.  Of  course  we  cannot 
justify  this  position;  and  yet  when  we  see  the  fate  of  many  of 
these  helpless  families,  bereft  of  their  protectors,  it  is  not  in 
our  hearts  to  reproach  those  who  have  saved  their  lives  by 
this  hypocrisy.  Either  alternative  is  dreadful;  and  to  stand 
in  the  presence  of  such  calamities  so  utterly  helpless,  except 
to  cry  to  God  in  the  agony  of  our  hearts,  is  a  trial  which  we 
never  expected  to  experience. 

Dreadful  Forebodings. 

Of  course  wc  cannot  tell  what  the  outcome  will  be.  We 
believe  that  God  has  a  people  here,  and  that  in  some  way,  out 
of  all  this  ruin,  he  will  rebuild  his  Church;  but  at  present  the 
outlook  is  dark  in  the  extreme.  Many  of  the  churches,  par- 
sonages and  schools  have  been  destroyed,  how  many  we  do 
not  know,  for  the  country  is  in  such  a  state  that  traveling  is 
very  unsafe,  and  reports  come  in  slowly.  We  know  that 
seven  of  our  pastors  and  six  preachers  have  been  killed, 
and  we  may  hear  of  still  others. 

Few  of  the  preachers  remain  at  their  posts.  Not  only 
would  they  be  put  under  a  pressure  to  accept  Islam,  but  they 
are  hated  because  they  are  understood  to  be  promoters  of 
freedom  of  thought.  Then,  too,  where  their  congregations 
are  recognized  as  Mohammedans,  their  presence  among  them 
now  would  not  be  tolerated.  Here,  too,  is  another  problem. 
We  have  been  steadily  pressing  for  self-support,  but  even  our 
city  congregations  are  impoverished,  and  the  congregations  in 
the  out-stations  are  most  of  them  naked  and  hungry,  and  de- 
pendent on  charity ;  so  these  faithful  men  and   these  bereft 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  263 

preachers'  families  come  back  upon  the  Board  for  support. 
Some  of  them  were  wholly  supported  by  their  own  people, 
who  are  now  able  to  give  nothing. 

We  are  now  organizing  a  system  of  relief  in  the  hope  that 
funds  will  come  to  us  from  abroad.  Even  were  there  abun- 
dant funds  in  hand,  it  is  a  most  difficult  and  delicate  business. 
Even  those  who  have  declared  themselves  Moslems  receive 
no  mercy  from  their  co-religionists,  who  yet  would  resent 
foreign  aid.  The  Government  has  the  name  of  supplying 
rations,  but  so  far  it  is  simply  a  farce,  and  it  does  not  reach 
the  most  destitute.  The  mortality  this  winter  from  scanty 
clothing,  exposure  and  starvation  will  inevitably  be  great. 
God  pity  this  poor  people  ! 

The  Story  of  the  Harput  Massacre. 

A  more  detailed  account  of  the  conflict  is  furnished  by 
another  missionary  as  follows  : 

Doubtless  you  know  the  main  facts  in  the  case;  and  I 
hope  some  time  we  may  be  able  to  get  the  details  into  shape, 
so  that  the  Christian  world  may  understand  the  enormity  of 
the  outrage  which  has  been  committed.  We  are  not  ourselves, 
I  am  sure,  fully  aware  of  the  extent  of  the  pillaging  of  villages 
and  murder  of  innocent  men,  and  the  capture  of  women  and 
girls  for  the  harems  of  brutal  Turks  and  Kurds.  But  I  must 
give  a  few  details. 

We  were  surrounded  for  a  week  or  ten  days  by  a  cordon  of 
burning  villages  on  the  plain.  Gradually  the  cordon  of  fire 
and  fiendish  savages  drew  nearer  the  city.  The  attack  in  the 
city  w.-^.s  planned  for  Sunday,  November  lo,  1895,  and  some 
of  the  city  rabble  began  to  make  demonstrations ;  but  the 
soldiers  drove  them  back.  The  invading  Kurds,  Redifs  (in 
disguise  as  Kurds)  were  not  ready  for  the  onset.  On  Monday, 
November   nth,  the  attack  began  on   Husenik,  where  200 


264  rhe  Cry  from  Armenia. 

were  killed  and  as  many  more  wounded,  then  up  the  gorge  to 
Sinamood  and  the  east  part  of  the  city. 

Then  a  body  of  men  appeared  in  the  Turkish  cemetery 
below  the  city.  They  came  near  a  body  of  soldiers  posted  on 
the  hill  with  a  cannon.  Big  Turks  came  down  to  them  from 
the  city;  a  conference  seemed  to  be  held.  Apparently  the 
invaders  were  forbidden  to  touch  the  markets  (from  which,  of 
course,  they  knew  that  both  Christians  and  Turks  had  re- 
moved their  goods  to  their  houses.)  Then  the  soldiers  with- 
drew and  were  posted  on  the  road  higher  up,  apparently  to 
better  defend  the  empty  markets. 

A  Murderous  Attack. 

Then  the  invaders,  with  a  great  cry  of  "  Ash  /  ash  /  "  began 
to  fire  their  guns.  The  soldiers  also  began  to  fire.  It  was 
sooji  apparent  that  this  was  only  a  little  sham  fight ;  but  it 
was  too  thin  to  cover  the  nefarious  design  of  the  men  who 
planned  this  thing.  Then  began  the  attack  on  the  houses  in 
this  quarter.  The  soldiers  protected  the  raiders,  and  not  a 
finger  was  lifted  by  the  military  officers  on  the  ground  to  pro- 
tect the  people  or  us  from  the  plundering,  murderous  mob. 
There  were  hundreds  of  plunderers.  Scarcely  a  house  in  this 
quarter  escaped,  and  a  large  number  were  set  on  fire.  A 
crowd  of  refugees  were  in  our  court  and  house  and  girls' 
school. 

Soon  our  outside  gate  was  attacked,  and  the  crowd  of 
fugitives  fled  for  their  lives.  One  company  pressing  through 
a  narrow  passage  were  fired  upon ;  the  bullets  fell  like  hail 
around  them :  four  were  wounded,  A  cannon  ball  went 
through  the  same  passage-way.  This  company  fled  to  the  hill 
and  were  taken  into  the  city  (twenty-seven  school-girls  in  the 
crowd ;  they  suffered  untold  misery  in  a  khan  that  night  ; 
delivered  next  day,  and  brought  away  under  an  escort  of  sol- 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  265 

diers).     The  rest  of  the  refugees  took  refuge  in  the  yard  of 
the  girls'  school,  surrounded  by  a  high  wall. 

At  the  last  moment  I  ran  out  to  see  if  our  heavy  fron^  ! 
gate  was  standing.  I  saw  a  hole  a  foot  wide  made,  and 
instantly  the  loud  report  of  a  rifle  warned  me  to  retreat.  We 
had  been  in  the  yard  but  a  few  moments  when  the  marauders 
were  at  the  door  of  the  yard  inside  the  school  buildings.  We 
made  another  start  and  hurried  out  from  the  gate,  and  this 
time  for  the  college  (boys')  building  as  our  last  refuge.  I  was 
on  the  outside  of  the  fleeing  crowd,  our  invalids,  Mr.  W.  and 
Mrs.  A.,  borne  in  strong  arms. 

A  Brutal  Turk. 

Suddenly  a  savage-looking  Turk  appeared  at  the  corner 
of  the  building  outside.  I  instinctively  raised  my  hand  to 
prevent  his  coming  toward  the  fleeing  crowd.  Instantly  he 
he  drew  and  flourished  a  revolver  and  deliberately  pointed  it 
at  me.  I  thought  for  an  instant  it  was  only  to  frighten  us 
and  make  us  hasten  our  flight,  but  two  shots  from  his  pistol 
convinced  me  that  his  purpose  was  to  murder.  Some  thirty 
or  more  had  been  shot  down  in  the  houses  just  below  us. 

Again,  before  we  were  all  through  the  gate,  he  aimed  at 
Mr.  Gates  and  Miss  Wheeler  and  fired  a  third  time,  but  no 
one  was  hit.  We  breathed  more  freely  as  we  pressed  into  the 
three-story  stone  building  with  the  more  than  four  hundred 
fugitives.  Soon  the  smoke  began  to  rise  from  the  front  o 
my  house  and  Mr.  Brown's ;  some  say  the  hou.=e  was  set  on 
fire  by  bombshells.  Soon  the  whole  of  the  houses  connected 
with  the  Girls'  College  were  on  fire,  and  the  large  college 
building  was  no  doubt  set  on  fire  ;  also  fifty  to  seventy  houses 
were  burning  below  ours. 

Then  the  chapel  close  to  us  was  set  on  fire,  and  the  intense 
heat  would  have  set  fire  to  the  large  high-school  building 


266  The  Cry  from  Armenia, 

between  the  college  and  chapel ;  but  with  our  new  fire  engine 
and  a  plentiful  supply  of  water,  Mr.  Gates  was  able  to  save  it 


A   BEREAVED    FAMILY. 

This  woman,  with  her  daughter  and  son,  has  lost  all  the  other  members  of  her  family  and  has 
been  robbed  of  all  her  household  goods.     The  girl  was  cruelly  maltreated  by  the  soldiers. 

from  taking  fire.  Here  in  the  college  building,  with  450  per- 
sons, we  spent  the  night,  with  little  bedding  and  only  dry 
crusts  of  bread  to  eat. 

The  plan  was  evidently  to  destroy  all  the  buildings,  and 
thus  render  our  stay  here  impossible.     Mr.  Barnum's  house 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  267 

was  fired  in  three  places,  but  the  fire  went  out.  A  bombshell 
was  fired  into  Mr.  Barnum's  study,  and  burst  in  the  room 
from  which  they  had  fled  only  a  little  before.  Mr.  Gates's 
house  would  have  been  burned — oil  was  poured  in  two 
places — but  happily  was  left  unburned.  Three  nights  we 
remained  in  the  college  building,  then  went  into  a  room  in  the 
Gates's  house;  the  Barnums  also  went  to  theirs. 

The  next  morning  after  the  attack  the  commander  advised 
and  urged  leaving  the  college  building,  saying :  "  1  can't  pro- 
tect you  here."  Mr.  Barnum  replied :  "  The  time  has  come 
for  plain  talk.  I  saw  you  standing  on  the  hill  there  yester- 
day when  our  houses  were  plundered  and  burned,  and  you  did 
nothing  to  prevent  it.  If  you  wish  to  protect  us,  you  can  do 
it  better  here  than  anywhere  else."  The  treacherous  rascal 
said  two  days  before  that  he  would  be  cut  in  pieces  before  he 
would  allow  a  Kurd  to  enter  the  city.  He  now  brazenly 
replied:  "What  could  I  do  against  15,000  Kurds?" 

Mohammedanisin  or  Death. 

They  wanted  to  get  the  people  scattered  in  the  city  and 
us  out  of  the  buildings,  and  then  they  would  have  been 
burned.  But  I  must  not  write  more,  although  there  is  much  to 
tell.  We  write  to  Constantinople,  but  can't  be  sure  of  our 
letters  getting  through.  We  have  telegraphed  a  good  many 
times,  but  telegrams  can't  tell  all. 

The  pressure  on  the  villages  to  become  Moslem  is  terri- 
ble ;  large  numbers  have  been  instantly  shot  down  or  butch- 
ered who  would  not  instantly  abjure  their  Christian  faith.  We 
have  already  heard  of  the  murder  of  seven  of  our  native 
pastors  and  six  preachers.  But  I  have  not  time  to  enter  on 
these  horrible  details.  If  I  can  get  letters  sent  on,  perhaps 
I  will  send  again;  45  killed  in  the  west  quarter,  100  in  the 
whole   city.     Husenik,    200    killed,    200   wounded.     Official 


268  The  Cry  from  Armenia. 

reports  will  represent  Turks  killed.     There  has  not  been  a 
single  one  killed  or  wounded. 

Another  Account. 

A  later  account,  signed  by  "An  Observer,"  furnishes  the 
following  additional  details  of  the  outbreak  at  Harput : 

The  reign  of  terror  still  continues,  although  the  feeling  is 
not  as  tense  as  it  has  been.  In  the  city  only  a  few  Christians 
venture  to  open  their  shops,  and  in  the  villages,  where  there  is 
a  mixed  population,  the  Christians  show  themselves  but  little 
in  public.  Not  a  single  person  has  been  punished,  or  even 
arrested,  for  the  awful  crimes  which  have  been  perpetrated 
during  the  last  few  weeks  ;  consequently  evil  men  have  very 
little  fear  of  punishment  for  new  crimes  which  they  may  com- 
mit, although  the  Government  is  apparently  trying  to  prevent 
further  outbreaks.  Threats  are  freely  uttered,  and  so  the 
Christian  population  is  kept  in  a  state  of  anxious  suspense. 
The  most  common  threat,  that  which  is  uttered  by  officials  as 
well  as  by  civilians,  is,  that  in  case  Europe  uses  force,  the 
Christian  population  will  be  wiped  out  altogether. 

In  the  weekly  London  Times,  of  November  22d,  1895,  it 
is  written  that  the  Turkish  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  has 
authorized  a  Constantinople  correspondent  to  announce  that 
"  the  Sultan,  prompted  by  the  noble  sentiments  with  which  he 
is  universally  known  to  be  animated,  has  issued  an  Irad6, 
ordering  all  those  who  have  suffered  during  the  troubles  in 
Asia  Minor  to  be  clothed,  fed  and  housed  at  the  expense  of 
the  State  until  the  situation  improves.  The  widows  and 
orphans  unable  to  maintain  themselves  will  receive  a  State 
pension.  This  measure  is  to  apply  alike  to  Christians  and 
Mohammedans,  to  the  innocent  and  to  the  guilty."  His 
Excellency  added :  "  Tell  me  in  wha,t  country  there  is  another 
sovereign  whose  humanity  and  goodness  are  equally  bound- 
less ! " 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  269 

We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  population  suffering  as  few  peo- 
ple have  ever  suffered.  Now  what  are  the  facts  as  to  official 
relief?  I  cannot  say  what  orders  His  Majesty  may  have  given  ; 
but,  after  daily  and  careful  inquiry  of  people  from  many 
places  in  this  region,  I  can  affirm  that  the  only  aid  which  is 
given,  or  has  been  given  in  any  case,  is  a  little  bread  or  a  very 
small  quantity  of  grain,  and  that,  in  many  cases,  of  the  poorest 
quality. 

I  have  seen  a  sample  of  the  bread  given  in  Arabkir,  and 
it  is  a  strange  mixture,  almost  black.  In  Malatia  and  Palu 
the  rations  issued  to  a  limited  number  of  t'ne  actually  needy  is 
one-half  of  a  small  loaf  of  bread.  The  Government  ration  for 
its  soldiers  and  police  is  three  such  loaves  a  day  ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  ration  issued  to  these  sufferers  is  one-sixth  of  that 
given  to  those  in  public  service. 

Efforts  for  Relief. 

Other  large  towns  and  villages  have  various  experiences. 
A  Relief  Commission  has  been  appointed  here,  and  its  mem- 
bers have  made  tours  among  the  villages,  prepared  a  record  of 
the  destitute,  and  promised  aid.  In  some  cases  a  small  quan- 
tity of  grain,  sufficient  to  last  four  or  five  days,  has  been 
given,  with  the  promise  that  after  ten  days  they  should  receive 
more.  Six  weeks  have  passed,  petitions  have  been  given,  and 
now  the  people  are  told  that  the  grain  in  the  Government 
storehouse  is  exhausted. 

In  some  other  cases  the  Commissioners  have  taken  a  few 
bushels  of  wheat  from  men  who  have  plundered  from  their 
Christian  neighbors  hundreds  of  bushels,  and  this  is  doled 
out  to  those  who  have  been  plundered,  and  the  Government 
is  credited  with  great  generosity.  I  have  to-day  questioned 
several  men  from  a  village  on  this  plain,  who  say  that  after 
waiting  six  weeks  the  Government  has  given  fifty  measures 


270  The  Cry  from  Armenia. 

of  wheat  for  the  village,  which  numbers  five  hundred  and 
eighty  souls. 

This  is  an  average  of  fifteen  pounds  to  a  person,  and  they 
understand  that  they  can  expect  no  more.  This  village  was 
plundered  of  everything.  Even  many  of  the  doors  of  their 
houses  were  carried  away ;  of  their  one  hundred  and  ten  houses, 
fifty  were  burned  ;  fifty  men  were  killed  and  five  wounded. 

"Boundless  Humanity  and  Goodness." 

I  have  to-day  inquired  of  two  intelligent  men  from  Peri, 
the  residence  of  a  Kaimakam,  in  a  district  north  of  us,  and 
they  say  that  the  authorities  there  received  an  order  from  the 
Government  here  to  help  the  destitute,  but  that  not  a  particle 
of  aid  has  been  rendered,  except  to  such  as  are  willing  to 
become  Moslems  ;  and  others  are  given  to  understand  that  if 
they  wish  relief  that  is  the  only  way  to  secure  it. 

These  are  illustrations  of  the  "  boundless  humanity  and 
goodness,"  as  they  are  revealed  here.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
the  Central  Government  appropriates  much  more  than  reaches 
the  sufferers  themselves.  Local  officials  are  enriched,  as  is 
always  the  case  when  there  is  a  distribution  of  relief 

Next  to  food,  the  most  pressing  need  now  is  for  clothing 
and  bedding.  Many  were  stripped  of  everything  except  a 
cotton  shirt  and  drawers,  so  that  those  who  have  food  are  in 
danger  of  perishing  from  cold,  as  many  have  already.  The 
Government  has  done  nothing  in  the  way  of  supplying  these 
needs,  except  that  in  a  few  cases  in  the  city,  it  has  helped  to 
restore  stolen  beds  to  their  owners.  , 

I  have  not  heard  of  the  bestowal  of  a  single  garment, 
except  it  may  have  been  recovered  plunder,  or  the  giving  of  a 
yard  of  cloth  to  the  most  needy.  The  Turks  do  not  aid  even 
those  of  their  neighbors  who,  to  save  their  lives,  have  accepted 
the  Mohammedan  faith.     There  is  here  and  there  a  Turk  who 


The  Cry  front  Armenia.  271 

shows  genuine  kindness  and  pity,  but  the  mass  of  them  seem 
to  be  dead  to  every  such  sentiment. 

And  here,  in  justice  to  the  local  government,  I  should  say 
that  since  the  disaster  which  befell  us,  and  for  which  the 
authorities  were  largely  responsible,  we  have  been  carefully 
protected  and  great  courtesy  is  shown  us.  We  have  a  new 
Governor-General,  who  seems  to  be  a  very  kind  man.  Our 
Minister,  Judge  Terrell,  has  been  very  energetic,  and  has 
secured  orders  from  the  Sultan  himself  for  our  protection.  A 
company  of  a  hundred  soldiers  is  quartered  on  our  premises, 
somewhat  to  our  inconvenience.  It  would  seem  as  though 
years  must  elapse  before  we  can  feel  the  confidence  of  former 
times. 

A  Scene  of  Suffering. 

A  great  relief  work  is  suddenly  thrown  upon  us.  We 
have  the  promise  of  funds  from  England  and  America,  and  we 
are  in  the  midst  of  all  this  suffering.  It  is  a  very  difficult  and 
delicate  undertaking.  We  have  asked  our  Minister  to  secure 
for  us  permission  from  the  Central  Government  to  distribute 
relief,  for  any  general  public  distribution  will  be  sure  to  excite 
jealousy  and  opposition. 

Meanwhile,  we  are  employing  a  good  number  of  men  in 
clearing  the  ruins  of  our  buildings  of  rubbish,  and  the  ladies 
are  employing  women  to  make  underclothing  and  bedding ; 
and  they  are  sending  to  poor  women  in  the  villages,  cotton 
and  wool  to  be  made  into  cloth  and  stockings.  We  are  also 
securing  carefully  prepared  lists  of  the  most  needy  in  all  the 
places  within  reach,  and  are  giving  a  little  money  here  and 
there,  as  far  as  we  can,  without  attracting  attention. 

Daily  rations  of  bread  are  issued  in  the  city  to  nearly  two 
hundred  families,  who  take  our  tickets  to  the  baker.  It  is  an 
especially  delicate  matter  to  assist  those  who  have  declared 


272  The  Cry  from  Arme^iia. 

themselves  Moslems.  They  are  afraid  to  be  known  as  receiv- 
ing aid,  as  it  would  expose  them  to  serious  danger  from  their 
new  co-religionists. 

Another  difficulty  is  to  find  means  to  reach  distant  places. 
Roads  are  unsafe,  so  that  money  cannot  be  easily  sent ;  there 
are  no  people  in  such  places,  with  money  left,  upon  whom  we 
can  draw  for  funds,  and  if  money  is  sent,  it  is  not  always  easy 
to  know  through  whom  to  dispense  it. 

Vast  Extent  of  the  Devastation. 

The  Lord,  however,  in  answer  to  our  daily  prayers,  is 
opening  channels  through  which  relief  can  flow  out  to  places 
remote  from  us.  But  when  one  considers  the  vast  extent  of 
this  disaster,  the  intensity  of  the  suffering,  and  the  fact  that  the 
most  of  the  thousands  who  were  killed  were  men  who  have 
left  widows  and  children  who  are  dependent,  and  many  of 
whom  are  in  a  moral  condition  worse  than  their  physical 
state ;  the  picture  is  overwhelmingly  appalling.  Add  to  all 
this  the  terror  under  which  the  whole  Christian  population 
lives,  and  we  have  a  condition  which,  it  seems  to  me,  has 
rarely  had  a  parallel  in  history." 

We  present  herewith  a  letter  from  a  prominent  Christian 
worker  in  Armenia  to  an  Armenian  lady,  of  high  culture,  in 
America.  Names  are  withheld  only  to  avoid  adding  to  the 
danger  by  which  the  writers  are  now  surrounded,  but  the 
truth  of  the  statements,  considering  their  source,  admits  of  no 
doubt. 

December  12,  1895. 

My  Dear  Sister: — I  hope  you  received  my  letter  of  last 
week  and  learned  about  our  condition. 

After  the  massacres  and  the  pillages  of  the  i6th  and  17th 
of  November,  the  condition  of  our  people  became  something 
most  heartrending. 

Though  we  do  not   know  yet  the  exact  number  of  the 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  273 

killed  ones  in ,  it  is  estimated  at  500  to  looo.  Two-thirds 

of  all  the  properties  of  Christians  are  pillaged.  Every  kind 
of  business  and  work  is  stopped  altogether.  Everybody  is 
shut  up  in  their  houses,  and  no  one  dares  to  come  out  of 
doors.     You  can  understand  what  it  means  to  our  people. 

At  the  present  day  we  have  4,000  destitute  survivors,  of 
course  all  of  them  being  Christians.  The  Turks  are  enjoying 
the  booty  they  got  from  us.  I  have  no  doubt  our  destitution 
shall  be  doubled  in  a  few  weeks. 

Oh,  do  tell  the  most  heartrending  condition  of  our  people 
to  the  Christian  friends  in  America,  and  raise  money  and  send 
it  to  me  through  the  American  Board,  and  I  shall  disburse  it 
in  a  most  judicious  way !  It  is  simply  impossible  to  describe 
the  dark  scene  of  the  unheard-of  cruelties  of  these  two  con- 
tinual days'  massacre. 

Every  day  we  hear  of  something  new.  They  placed  the 
head  of  a  young  man  to  his  gray-haired  old  father's  knees  and 
butchered  him  there.  A  Turk  took  eight  Armenian  men  to 
his  shop  by  promising  that  he  should  keep  and  protect  them 
there,  and  immediately  went  out  and  brought  a  few  more 
Turks  to  assist  him  in  butchering  them  there. 

Mutilating  the  Dead. 

Seven  Armenian  young  men  hid  themselves  in  one  of 
their  shops.  The  Turkish  soldiers,  breaking  the  door  of  the 
shop,  killed  them  with  bayonets  and  clubs  in  their  hands. 
After  killing  our  most  prominent  men  (Babigian  Garabed- 
agha),  they  cut  off  their  heads,  and,  as  a  disgrace,  placed  the 
heads  on  a  spear  and  made  a  march  of  rejoicing  through  the 
streets.  Our  great  market  (Baluck  laghan)  flowed  like  a 
stream  with  the  blood  of  the  butchered  ones  there. 

A  butcher  seized  an  Armenian  at  the  same  market,  and 
as  he  had  no  bayonet  or  sword  ready  at  hand,  picked  up  a 
stone  from  the  street  and  struck  his  head  with  it  until  the 
brain  and  all  the  contents  of  his  skull  came  out,  and  was 
emptied  and  crushed. 

Such  fiendish  and  brutal  facts  are  so  frequent  that  we  are 
sick.  There  is  no  end  to  these  unutterable  barbarities  and 
hellish  horrors,  and  for  all  these  atrocities  there  has  been  no 
18 


274  The  Cry  Jrom  Armenia. 

cause  whatever-  on  the  part  of  the  Armenians.  They  are 
perfectly  blameless. 

We  do  not  know  how  we  shall  pass  this  winter.  The  cold 
season,  starvation  and  misery  will  no  doubt  kill  as  many  as 
the  Turks  have.  We  are  safe  at  present,  but  are  not  allowed 
to  go  to  the  town.  We  still  trust  God,  who  can  turn  all 
these  harms  of  ours  to  everlasting  joy. 

After  these  terrible  slaughters  by  the  Turkish  soldiers, 
the  Turkish  peasantry  and  the  Kurds  around  the  town,  encour- 
aged and  incited  by  the  soldiers,  rushed  into  the  city  several 
times  and  made  attacks  on  the  survivors,  in  addition  to  the 
pillage  and  slaughter  that  already  have  been  done.  Hundreds 
of  houses  and  shops  have  been  pillaged,  and  hundreds  of 
families  left  without  food  and  clothing.  Many  have  lost  their 
houses  even,  which  are  being  torn  down  by  the  Moslems,  or 
seized  by  the  soldiers  to  stay  in.  All  trade  and  work  are 
stopped ;  the  men  dare  not  go  out  of  their  houses. 

Reduced  to  Abject  Poverty. 

Many  rich  and  comfortable  families  have  become  poor 
Merchants  are  ruined.  Almost  all  the  houses  of  the  wealthiest 
men  are  stripped  of  all  furniture  and  then  burned.  In  some, 
the  owners  of  the  houses  were  burned  as  well.  Those  of  the 
prominent  merchants  who  are  not  killed  are  imprisoned.  The 
hospital  is  full  of  wounded.  The  schools  stopped,  and  school- 
rooms full  of  people  who  have  no  houses. 

The  Third  Church  is  pillaged.  Services  are  now  being 
held  in  the  First  Church  and  Gregorian  Church  morning  and 
afternoon.  Very  fully  attended.  People  have  nothing  else 
to  do  but  pray,  and  they  crowd  the  churches  and  pour  out 
their  souls  before  God. 

You  have  gone  to  the  United  States  for  a  greater  work,  I 
hope,  than  getting  a  building  for  your  Mission.  I  hope  you 
may  be  the  means  of  saving  many  of  your  people  from  starva> 
tion  and  death,  by  opening  the  hearts  of  Christian  people  to 
give  for  the  relief  of  these  suffering  thousands.  It  is  estimated 
that  500,000  are  reduced  to  abject  want  by  the  recent  mas- 
sacres throughout  Turkey. 

Oh,  the  thousands  of  widows  and  orphans  that  are  crying 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  275 

to  God  to-day !     Hundreds  of  families  are  sure  to  starve  and 
freeze  this  winter. 

The  poor  Armenian  nation,  persecuted  and  oppressed 
before,  lies  now  crushed  and  bleeding  and  ready  to  die.  The 
horrible  things  done  in  the  massacre  make  one  feel  that  Turkey 
is  not  living  in  the  nineteenth  century,  but  in  the  most  bar- 
barous and  cruel  ages  of  the  past.  Men  hewed  to  pieces, 
beaten  to  death,  bodies  left  in  the  streets  for  the  dogs  to  eat, 
or  dragged  to  the  caves  and  stones  thrown  over  them.  Those 
killed  in  the  market  were  thrown  into  the  moat  of  the  castle, 
and  burned  altogether. 

Scramble  for  Spoils. 

Women  and  children  in  the  houses  were  not  killed,  but 
wounded,  and  clothing  torn  from  them,  while  their  rugs,  bed- 
ding, boxes  of  clothes,  dishes  and  everything  had  been  taken 
from  the  houses.  Ear-rings  were  torn  from  the  ears  of  women 
and  girls,  tearing  the  flesh  with  them ;  beds  and  covering 
taken  from  them.  Sick  people,  and  women  in  confinement, 
had  their  beds  and  covering  taken  from  them. 

Many  were  told  to  choose  between  Christ  and  death,  and 
Islam  and  life.  No  doubt  many,  to  save  themselves,  chose 
the  latter.  Some  Christians  are  protected  by  their  Turkish 
friends.  But  some  treacherously  made  a  show  of  protection 
only  to  give  them  up  to  be  killed  by  the  mob  later. 

It  is  now  more  than  a  month  since  the  first  outbreak,  but 
everything  is  yet  at  a  standstill.  This  week  a  few  weavers 
tried  to  work  at  their  looms,  but  were  so  ill-treated  by  the 
Moslems  that  they  had  to  flee  home  again.  Only  a  few  who 
have  looms  in  their  own  houses  can  venture  to  weave  what 
little  material  they  have  on  hand. 

Oh,  when  will  peace  be  established  again,  and  what  is  to 
become  of  the  Armenians  till  then  ?  Every  one  living  is  in 
fear  of  more  to  follow.     It  is  a  condition  of  living  death. 

I  am  glad  you  have  been  saved  from  seeing  the  terrible 
condition  into  which  your  own  town  and  nearly  all  our  large 
cities  have  fallen.  Poor  Marash!  Nearly  all  of  the  Christian 
houses  burned  up.  But  may  the  Lord  show  you  how  you 
can  help  your  poor  people  where  you  are.  Do  what  you  can 
for  your  poor  dying  people. 


276  The  Cry  from  Armenia, 

Atrocities  in  Many  Places. 

The  following  notes  are  from  various  letters  received  by 
The  Independent,  N,  Y.: 

Kulleth,  a  Mesopotamia  village  with  a  population  of  about 
looo  souls,  lost  her  sheep  by  a  raid  of  the  Kurds  on  the  fourth 
of  November,  and  the  next  day  the  village  was  attacked.  The 
Government  came  to  the  aid  of  the  villagers  with  members  of 
an  Arab  tribe,  and  succeeded  in  holding  out  against  the 
Kurds. 

At  Goeli,  a  village  of  nearly  2000  inhabitants,  the  people 
gathered  in  the  church  when  attacked  by  the  Kurds  on  the 
evening  of  November  7th.  The  next  morning  they  surren- 
dered, but  were  protected  by  troops  in  their  escape  to  the  city 
of  Mardin.  The  number  of  killed,  captives  and  those  in  hid- 
ing was  not  known,  but  about  one-third  of  the  Protestant 
community  were  unaccounted  for. 

At  Kala'at-el-Marat,  a  village  of  1500  inhabitants  within 
four  miles  of  Mardin,  the  villagers  fled  with  their  goods  to 
Dere  Zafran,  the  monastery  where  the  Jacobite  Patriarch  has 
his  official  seat.  The  next  day  the  village  and  the  monastery 
were  surrounded  by  the  Kurds,  The  village  was  entered,  and 
what  goods  had  been  put  into  the  village  church  were  taken, 
the  doors  and  windows  of  the  houses  even  being  taken  away. 
The  Turkish  Government  sent  100  soldiers  to  defend  the 
monastery,  together  with  the  villagers,  and  they  were  able  to 
hold  it  against  the  Kurds. 

The  villagers  from  Benabeel,  another  village  in  that  vicin- 
ity, fled  to  a  cave  high  up  in  the  rocks  and  maintained  them- 
selves there  against  the  Kurds  for  two  days,  when  troops 
arrived  from  Mardin  and  escorted  500  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren into  the  city,  among  them  being  the  Protestant  preacher 
with  his  wife  and  small  children. 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  277 

At  Arabkir  and  Malatia  the  Armenians  undertook  to  defend 
themselves,  with  the  result  that  the  fighting  was  very  severe ; 
but  they  were  overpowered  with  the  loss,  so  far  as  can  be 
learned,  of  5000  Armenians  in  Malatia,  and  certainly  2000  in 
Arabkir,  while  from  500  to  800  Turks  were  slain.  The  Pro- 
testant preacher  and  his  wife  were  saved  through  the  kindness 
of  a  Turkish  officer  who  was  a  neighbor  In  Malatia  Grego- 
fians.  Catholics  and  Protestants  gathered  together  in  two 
churches  and  fought  for  their  lives  until  obliged  to  surrender. 
One  churchful  first  gave  up  their  arms  on  condition  of  being 
protected,  but  after  that  they  were  surrounded,  and  on  the 
next  day  very  many  of  them  were  killed. 

Martyrs  to  their  Faith 

Among  those  killed  on  the  Harput  plain  were  an  evan- 
gelist and  his  wife  who  had  done  most  noble  work  in  the 
village  until  the  last  moment,  although  repeatedly  urged  to 
leave.  The  wife  was  first  killed  by  a  bullet,  and  her  husband 
had  his  arms  cut  off  and  was  then  hacked  to  pieces.  One 
noble  woman,  whose  husband  was  one  of  the  first  killed  in 
the  city  of  HarpCit,  said  :  "  I  am  so  glad  he  is  gone,  and  we 
shall  all  of  us  soon  follow."  The  preacher  at  Keserik  was 
awfully  tortured  and  then  killed.  In  one  village  thirty  men 
were  taken  to  the  Gregorian  Church,  among  them  the  Protest- 
ant pastor. 

One  by  one  they  were  asked  if  they  would  accept  the 
Moslem  faith.  On  refusing  they  were  killed.  The  pastor 
was  asked  the  question  seven  times,  and  each  time  he  replied : 
"  I  believe  in  God  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost."  At 
another  village  ten  men  were  taken  outside  and  asked  to 
choose  Mohammedanism  or  die.  One  of  the  best  women  of 
the  place,  seeing  their  fate,  said  :  "  Come,  let  us  cast  ourselves 
into  the  Euphrates  and  be  free."  Fifty-five  thus  chose  a 
watery  grave. 


278  TJie  Cry  from  Armenia. 

Two  missionary  ladies  were  in  the  city  of  Arabkir  just 
before  the  massacre.  They  wished  to  go  to  Harput  and 
repeatedly  requested  safeguards  from  the  Government.  For 
a  long  time  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  secure  the  guards, 
but  at  last  one  was  given.  Many  times  on  the  way  they 
were  stopped  by  bands  of  Kurds,  but  passed  through  without 
harm. 

The  day  they  reached  Harpiit  in  safety  the  attack  occurred 
at  Diarbekir,  and  on  the  same  day  the  large  town  of  Maden 
on  the  Euphrates  was  destroyed.  One  of  the  colporteurs  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  located  at  Arabkir  was  called 
upon  to  become  a  Moslem.  He  raised  his  hands  in  prayer, 
and  the  Turks  cut  off  both  hands  with  a  sword  and  shot  him 
dead. 

The  Relief  Inadequate. 

The  relief  work  in  Harput  is  opening  up  rapidly,  and  the 
money  goes  faster  and  faster;  but  the  missionaries  cannot 
begin  to  keep  pace  with  the  needs.  On  one  day  came  in  a 
list  of  396  souls  from  one  village,  out  of  more  than  twice 
that  number  in  the  village.  These  are  absolutely  destitute. 
Suppose  only  ten  piasters — forty  cents — per  soul  be  given  to 
them,  that  is  3,960  piasters,  and  this  is  only  one  village. 
How  long  will  ten  piasters  last  them  for  food,  and  how  can 
they  be  clothed  ? 

As  late  as  January,  1896,  the  reign  of  terror  continued,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  following  summary  of  the  situation  in 
the  columns  of  one  of  our  most  reliable  religious  journals  : 

The  week's  record  of  news  from  Turkey  is  alarming  in  the 
extreme.  The  lawlessness  of  the  Kurds  in  the  eastern 
provinces  has  grown  constantly,  and  has  extended  apparently 
to  all  classes  of  Moslems.  In  only  one  section  does  there 
seem  to  be  any  real  opposition  to  the  Turkish  Government, 
and  that  is  in  the  vicinity  of  Zeitun  in  the  Taurus  Mountains 


The  Cry  from  Armenia,  279 

north  of  Marash.  There,  according  to  reports,  the  Armenians 
besieged  the  Turkish  garrison  and  compelled  it  to  surrender, 
and  notwithstanding  the  approach  of  troops,  are  holding  their 
own  in  opposition. 

Massacres  are  reported  from  every  section  of  the  country, 
including  Erzeroum,  Harput,  Van,  Sivas,  the  Jebel  Tur  region 
east  of  Mardin,  where  the  Jacobites  are  the  only  Christians, 
and  disturbances  from  Mosul,  Damascus,  the  whole  Hauran, 
and  the  city  of  Nablus.  Detailed  accounts  on  the  best  of 
authority  state  that  the  massacres  have  been  worse  than  the 
telegrams  have  indicated. 

On  every  hand  there  is  a  reign  of  terror,  increased  by  the 
fact  that  the  Turkish  Government  is  making  every  effort  to 
supply  Moslems  with  arms,  while  it  makes  the  possession  of 
arms  by  Christians  the  pretext  for  the  most  wholesale  murder 
and  pillage.  The  situation  in  all  the  large  cities  is  terrible. 
and  the  anxiety  is  increasing  in  Constantinople. 

American  IVEissionaries  Attacked. 

Hitherto  foreigners  have  been  considered  reasonably  safe, 
but  at  Harput  the  mob  attacked  the  premises  occupied  by  the 
American  missionaries,  and  eight  out  of  the  twelve  houses 
were  looted,  thus  destroying  not  merely  the  property  of  the 
Americans,  but  the  property  of  many  Armenians  who  had 
taken  refuge  there.  These  houses  were  under  the  direct 
protection  of  the  Turkish  troops,  as  Minister  Terrell  had  been 
informed  by  the  Government.  The  missionaries'  lives  were 
saved,  but,  according  to  a  telegram  from  a  well-known  mis- 
sionary to  Minister  Terrell,  in  response  to  an  inquiry  from 
him,  they  are  in  great  danger. 

The  missionaries  at  Bitlis  have  telegraphed  to  Constanti- 
nople asking  for  a  safe  conduct  for  themselves  and  their 
families  to  Van.    Armenians  are  making  every  effort  to  escape 


280  The  Cry  from  Armenia. 

from  the  country,  and  telegrams  from  Odessa  state  that  every 
steamer  from  ports  in  Asia  Minor  brings  numbers  of  refugees 
who  are  mostly  destitute.  Crowds  of  refugees  are  also  daily 
crossing  the  Armenian  frontier  into  Russia. 

The  disturbance  also  is  spreading  into  Arabia,  where  there 
is  organized  revolt.  There  has  been  a  pitched  battle  between 
Arabs  and  Turks  at  Sana,  in  Yemen.  There  is  trouble  also 
in  Crete,  and  the  Albanians  are  threatening  revolt.  The 
reserves  of  the  Turkish  army  have  been  called  out,  but  in 
some  sections  they  absolutely  refuse  to  serve,  on  the  ground 
that  they  have  no  assurance  of  receiving  pay  or  even  sufficient 
food.  The  Turkish  Government  is  making  every  effort  to 
persuade  Europe  that  the  trouble  is  due  entirely  to  the 
Armenians,  and  makes  the  usual  promises  of  reform. 

Assassinators  Honored. 

Meanwhile  the  ambassadors  at  Constantinople  report  that 
they  can  secure  no  answers  to  questions  as  to  the  period  when 
the  reforms  will  commence.  The  Sultan  is  improving  every 
opportunity  to  decorate  and  advance  men  who  have  been 
identified  with  the  outrages  ;  and  it  is  reported  that  the  pre- 
sent Grand  Vizier,  Halil  Pasha,  is  to  be  succeeded  by  Shakir 
Pasha,  indicating  still  further  defiance  of  the  demands  of  the 
Powers. 

New  plots  are  also  being  discovered  in  Constantinople,  and 
there  are  reports  of  increased  bitterness  on  the  part  of  the 
Turks  against  the  Sultan.  Large  numbers  of  warships  are 
gathering  in  the  harbor  of  Salonica,  but  as  yet  there  is  no 
apparent  plan  for  united  action.  The  English  papers,  espe- 
cially The  Spectator,  which  speaks  with  an  air  of  authority, 
assert  that  Lord  Salisbury  has  a  distinct  policy  of  interference 
ready  for  contingencies,  the  time  to  develop  which  is  fast 
approaching. 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  281 

They,  however,  say  that  a  joint  ultimatum  will  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Sultan  transferring  the  internal  government  to 
persons  who  are  trusted  by  the  Powers.  If  the  Sultan  refuses 
to  grant  the  demands  the  combined  squadrons  will  advance 
on  Constantinople.  On  the  other  hand,  it  calls  attention  to 
the  fact  that  any  such  action  may  be  too  late ;  that  though 
the  Sultan  is  reported  as  terrified,  he  shows  no  sign  of  aban- 
doning his  position  of  defiance,  and  that  the  moment  he  is 
satisfied  that  the  Powers  do  not  intend  to  have  any  trifling 
with  their  demands,  he  may  retreat  to  Brusa,  where  they  can- 
not reach  him.  He  is  almost  insane  with  fear,  and  has  sent 
orders  to  the  governors  throughout  the  Empire  that  they 
must  stop  the  disturbances.  In  view  of  this  it  is  reported 
that  the  governments  are  awaiting  the  result  of  these  orders 
before  proceeding  to  the  extremity  of  occupying  Constan- 
tinople. 

A  Moslem  War. 

Reviewing  the  foregoing  story  of  outrage,  plunder  and 
murder,  one  of  our  most  influential  newspapers  says : 

The  news  of  the  sacking  of  the  missionaries'  houses  at 
Harput  will  bring  home  to  Americans,  as  nothing  else  has, 
the  real  condition  in  Turkey.  All  will  be  profoundly  grateful 
that,  so  far  at  least,  their  lives  are  safe ;  yet  we  cannot  fail  to 
recognize  that  any  day  may  bring  news  that  they,  too,  have 
fallen  victims  to  the  "  holy  war  "  which  for  years  has  been  the 
dread  of  every  Christian  under  Moslem  rule,  and  which  there 
is  increasing  proof  has  been  practically  declared  by  the  Mos- 
lem leaders,  including  the  Sultan  himself 

That  proof  is  found  in  the  wholesale  slaughter  of  Armen- 
ians all  over  the  country  after  they  have  been  found  to  be 
unarmed,  in  the  spread  of  the  massacre  to  the  section  in  the 
vicinity  of  Mardin,  where  there  are  no  Armenians  but  Jacobites, 
against  whom  no  whisper  of  a  charge  of  revolution  has  ever 


282  The  Cry  from  Armenia, 

been  uttered ;  in  the  furnishing  of  arms  to  Moslem  villagers 
and  the  punishment  of  every  Christian  found  with  arms ;  in 
the  repeated  statements  of  Turkish  officials  of  a  determined 
purpose  to  destroy  the  Armenians  before  the  reforms  can  be 
secured,  and  now  in  the  absolute  disregard  of  solemn  promises 
for  the  protection  of  American  lives  and  property. 

The  outlook  is  indeed  dark.  American  missionaries  are 
located  all  over  the  land,  in  Bitlis,  Van,  Mardin,  Sivas,  Cesarea, 
Marsovan,  Aintab,  Marash,  Adana,  Tarsus,  Haiin,  Brusa  and 
Nicomedia,  as  well  as  in  Constantinople  and  omyrna.  Which 
company  will  be  the  next  to  suffer  no  one  can  tell.  The  Bitlis 
missionaries  have  telegraphed  to  Constantinople  asking  for 
safe  conduct  to  Van.  It  is  a  wild  country  through  which 
they  must  go.     Can  their  escort  be  trusted  ?  '^ 

It  is  not  sufficient  that  verbal  assurances  be  given  to 
Minister  Terrell  and  the  State  Department.  The  only  argu- 
ment that  can  avail  in  the  present  crisis  is  the  argument  of 
force.  The  presence  of  the  allied  fleets  in  the  Bosphorus,  with 
their  guns  trained  on  the  Sultan's  palace,  will  do  more  than 
anything  else  to  insure  safety  not  only  for  Americans,  but  for 
every  Christian  subject  of  the  Turkish  Government.  If  that 
fails,  then  troops  must  occupy  every  available  point,  and  high 
officials  held  as  hostages  for  Christian  lives. 

America,  who  is  not  tied  up  with  political  complications, 
maybe  called  upon  to  act  independently.  The  White  Squad- 
ron could  be  sent  on  no  better  errand. 

The  following  appeal  in  verse  voices  in  a  striking  manner 
the  Christian  sentiment  of  America.  Always  when  great 
wrongs  are  committed  the  conscience  of  the  world  utters  its 
condemnation,  /n  how  many  instances,  as  in  the  present,  the 
voice  of  wrath  and  rebuke  is  heard  too  late.  The  deeds  that 
shock  high  heaven  are  done,  and  there  is  now  no  redress. 


The  Cry  from  Armenia.  283 

Armenia's  Bitter  Cry. 

BY  HETTA  LORD  HAYES  WARD. 

World,  world,  hear  our  prayer  I 
Oh  where  is  Russia,  where  ? 
A  fearful  deed  is  done ; 
Its  glare  affronts  the  sun. 

Smoke  !  Flame  !  Fire  ! 
Rouse  thee,  great  Russian  Sire ! 
When  Christian  homes  are  ablaze. 
Hast  thou  no  voice  to  raise  ? 
Thy  neighbor  to  thee  has  cried ; 
Pass  not  on  the  other  side. 
Look  on  our  dire  despair  ! 
Where  art  thou,  Czar,  oh,  where  ? 

Land  of  the  sun  and  sea, 
Wake,  Rome  and  Italy  ! 
Our  ancient  Church  in  vain 
Calls  thee  to  break  her  chain. 
Shame  !  Shame  !  Shame  ! 
Where  sleeps  thy  early  fame  ? 
To  death  our  priests  are  led, 
Their  flocks  lie  slaughtered,  dead. 
Awake,  good  Pope  of  Rome  ! 
Our  saints  through  blood  go  home  i 
Hear  thou  their  dying  plea, 
Where,  where  is  Italy  ? 

Land  of  Fraternity, 
Brave  France,  turn  not  away ! 
Shall  blood  thy  lihes  stain  ? 
Wilt  bear  the  curse  of  Cain  ? 
Wake  !  Wake  !  Wake  ! 
For  God  and  glory's  sake ! 
On  a  ghastly  funeral  pyre, 
Brave  men  are  burned  with  fire; 
God  calls  to  France,  the  free, 
"  Thy  brother,  where  is  he  ?" 
Lest  God  in  wrath  requite, 
Awake,  befriend  the  right  I 


284  The  Cry  from  Armenia. 


Where  is  good  Frederick's  son 
When  evil  deeds  are  done  ? 
Shall  prisons  reek  and  rot, 
His  mother's  blood  speak  not? 

Haste  !  Haste!  Haste! 
Time  runs  too  long  to  waste. 
If  halts  the  Kaiser  dumb, 
Let  all  the  people  come. 
Your  oath  must  sacred  stand. 
Treaties  of  Fatherland ; 
Victims  of  Turk  and  Kurd 
Rest  on  your  plighted  word. 

Your  sisters'  shame  and  blood 
Cry  out  to  England's  God. 
Slain  on  the  church's  floor. 
Their  blood  flowed  out  the  door. 

Speak  !  Speak  !  Speak  I 
The  strong  must  help  the  weak. 
Leave  Turkish  bonds  unsold  ; 
Betray  not  Christ  for  gold. 
Let  the  Moslem  dragon  feel 
Once  more  Saint  George's  heel. 
England,  awake,  awake! 
World,  hear,  for  Jesu's  sake ! 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

One  or  two  things  about  the  outburst  of  fury  against  the 
Armenians  which  has  swept  over  the  Turkish  Empire  ought 
to  be  clearly  understood. 

In  the  first  place  these  massacres  were  not  "  conflicts/' 
except  that  in  nearly  every  case  some  personal  encounter 
between  one  or  two  individuals  is  made  the  excuse  for  a 
rising  of  savages  who  have  carefully  prepared  for  such  an 
opportunity  against  the  hated  giaours.  To  this  rule  the 
affair  at  ZeitAn  was  an  exception ;  and  there  may  be  others  in 
that  region,  for  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  revolutionists  have 
been  planning  for  a  rebellion  in  Cilicia  for  some  time,  and  we 
have  not  the  details  to  show  to  the  contrary. 

The  conflict  in  Constantinople  consisted  of  three  sharp 
brushes  between  police  and  Armenians  about  noon  on  Sep- 
tember 30,  1895.  No  one  can  blame  the  police  for  killing 
the  men  who  fell  in  those  street  fights  in  the  attempt  to  restore 
order,  if  it  was  really  necessary  to  break  up  the  assembly  of 
Armenians.  All  Armenians  killed  after  two  o'clock  on  that 
day  were  killed  in  cold  blood  and  because  they  were 
"  giaours,"  or  "  infidels."  They  were  all,  or  nearly  all, 
innocent  people,  so  far  as  any  disturbance  of  the  peace  was 
concerned. 

At  Ak  Hissar  (October  9th,  near  Adabazar)  the  Turks  came 
to  the  village  on  the  market  day  armed,  and  began  by  search- 
ing Armenians  to  see  if  they  had  arms.  The  "  conflict  "  took 
place  aft^r  they  had  satisfied  themselves  that  the  people  were 

285 


286  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

unarmed.  A  Turk  went  up  to  an  Armenian  dealer  in  dried 
meat  and  seized  his  knife,  crying  out  that  he  was  armed. 
"  Why,  that  is  what  I  cut  my  meat  with,"  said  the  Armenian, 
trying  to  get  the  knife  back.  '*  And  I  will  cut  you  with  it," 
said  the  Turk,  stabbing  him.  That  began  the  butchery  and 
the  loot  of  the  bazar. 

At  Trebizond  an  Armenian  tried  to  kill  the  ex-Governor  of 
Van  in  the  street.  The  Turks  then  began  to  talk  massacre, 
and  a  week  ,  later  an  Armenian  going  home  in  the  evening 
found  himself  pursued  by  some  Turks.  He  fled ;  the  men 
were  gaining  on  him,  and  he  fired  at  the  supposed  robbers. 
One  of  the  Turks  was  killed.  This  was  the  "  conflict  "  in  this 
case.  The  next  day  the  Turks  suddenly  began  to  fire  upon 
the  Armenian  shopkeepers.  They  killed  700  o*"  ^00,  and 
looted  every  Armenian  shop  in  the  city. 

Hundreds  Slain  at  Bitlis. 

At  Bitlis  eight  hundred  were  killed,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  that  the  "  conflict "  was  of  this  nature,  since 
the  Government  only  claims  ten  Turkish  dead.  So  much 
loss  is  accounted  for,  as  at  Trebizond,  by  the  Turks  being 
killed  by  their  own  people's  stray  bullets,  or,  in  a  few  cases, 
by  their  encountering  resistance  when  they  were  breaking 
into  houses. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  Government  began  to  dis- 
tribute arms  to  the  Moslem  villagers  in  some  parts  of  the 
country;  and  since  the  outbreak  in  Constantinople  they  have 
shown  great  stringency  in  punishing  Armenians  found  with 
arms,  and  great  eagerness  to  aid  Turks  to  buy  them.  About 
the  same  time  the  Governor  of  Palu  was  indiscreet  enough  to 
say  to  the  Armenians  that  the  Sultan  had  decided  to  reform 
them,  but  the  reform  would  be  with  the  sword.  This  speech 
was  reported  to  the  British  Embassy,  and  the  Governor  was 


The  Shame  of  Christendom,  287 

removed.  The  officers  in  the  Sultan's  palace  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  saying  that  the  Powers  will  be  welcome  to  all  the 
good  they  can  get  out  of  the  reform  scheme  after  the  Sultan 
has  finished  with  the  Armenians,  in  case  he  is  forced  to 
accept  it. 

All  the  massacres  have  been  coolly  conducted.  Care  has 
been  taken  to  avoid  killing  any  but  Armenians,  and  the  police 
have  been  spectators  of  most  of  the  outrages,  and  have 
repeated  constantly  the  warning  not  to  kill  women  and  small 
children.  At  Ak  Hissar  they  added,  "  For  the  women  and 
children  will  fall  to  us  after  the  men  are  all  killed."  In  no 
case  have  Turks  who  killed  Armenians  been  interfered  with 
since  the  crime,  and  in  no  case  has  the  Government  made  any 
expression  of  disapproval.  Instead  of  this  it  has  uniforml}! 
tried  to  cover  up  the  facts. 

Denial  of  the  Massacres. 

On  October  25th  and  26th,  1895,  hundreds  of  Armenians 
at  Marash  were  killed,  and  the  heads  of  the  three  Christian 
communities  united  in  a  telegram  begging  for  protection, 
which  their  Governor  had  failed  to  give.  The  next  day  the 
Porte  sent  out  an  official  declaration  that  these  Bishops  (and 
the  Protestant  pastor)  who  sent  the  telegram  had  lied,  and 
that  no  massacre  had  taken  place.  Since  then  it  has 
attempted  to  suppress  all  private  telegrams  into  the  interior, 
and  has  forbidden  all  travel  in  any  direction,  lest  the  facts 
come  out.  All  this  points  in  the  one  direction  of  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  Central  Government  with  the  operation  of  killing 
off  the  giaours. 

It  seems  inconceivable  that  men  can  do  these  things  and 
have  no  qualms  of  conscience.  But  if  any  one  will  read  the 
canon  law  that  is  studied  in  all  of  the  Moslem  schools,  he  will 
find  minute  discussions  of  the  treatment  to  be  accorded  to 


288  Tlie  Shame  of  Christendom. 

unbelievers  who  pay  the  tribute  that  saves  their  lives.  All 
of  these  discussions  center  about  the  one  principle,  that 
"  giaours,"  or  "  infidels,"  have  a  right  to  live  as  long  as  it  is 
convenient  to  the  Moslem  State,  on  condition  of  paying  tri- 
bute. But  if  they  refuse  the  tribute  or  for  any  other  reason 
become  a  nuisance,  the  Imam  may  order  their  destruction  ; 
and  in  that  case  their  women  and  their  goods  become  the  pro-| 
perty  of  the  men  who  kill  them,  after  the  Sultan's  fifth  has 
been  taken  out.  Consequently  when  the  Imam  has  ordered 
the  slaughter  of  the  Armenians,  no  one  has  the  slightest  feel- 
ing of  guilt  in  doing  it. 

A  Burning  Question. 

Every  judge  and  lawyer,  and  most  of  the  governors,  and  all 
of  the  religious  teachers  are  brought  up  on  this  qanon  law. 
The  question  what  the  world  is  to  do  with  a  religion  that 
insists  on  such  license  is  going  to  become  a  burning  one  soon. 
A  Turkish  Governor  lately  remarked  that  Islam  is  not  blood- 
thirsty. When  these  laws  were  cited,  he  replied  :  "  Oh,  but 
you  see  that  is  only  when  the  giaour  becomes  a  nuisance." 
He  was  asked  what  they  could  do  if  they  considered  the 
giaour  a  nuisance  and  yet  the  giaour  does  nothing  against  the 
State.  He  answered  :  "  Well,  if  it  comes  to  that,  we  have  to 
find  some  way  of  making  him  do  something  that  will  justify 
the  penalty.''  This  contains  the  whole  policy  of  Turkey  for 
the  last  five  years.  It  has  been  to  goad  the  Armenians  into 
rebellion  so  as  to  have  a  justification  for  the  predetermined 
massacre. 

Not  even  in  the  darkest  days  of  the  Middle  Ages  or  under 
the  terrible  onslaught  of  the  Huns  was  there  manifest  so  dia- 
bolical a  spirit  as  has  been  revealed  in  the  course  of  the 
massacres  carried  out  under  the  express  orders  of  the  Turkish 
Government.     It  has  not  been  a  wild  outburst  of  untamed 


The  Shame  of  Christendom,  289 

fury,  but  a  cool,  well-laid  plan  for  slaughter,  rapine,  and  out- 
rage. 

The  severity  of  the  blow  has  been  only  equaled  by  the  self- 
restraint  that  waited  until  everything  was  ready,  and  then 
carefully  singled  out  the  victims,  choosing  those  whose  life 
was  most  to  be  feared,  whose  death  could  give  the  fullest 
immediate  return  in  booty,  material  and  human.  Even  the 
stoutest  arm  wearies  with  repeated  blows,  and  ammunition  is 
not  inexhaustible.  Therefore  the  orders  went  out,  "  Kill  the 
men ;  the  women  and  children  will  then  fall  to  us  !  " 

One  Story  Everywhere. 

The  story  is  the  same  everywhere.  Terror  on  the  part  of 
the  Christians ;  quiet,  soothing  words  from  the  Turkish 
officials,  assuring  all  of  the  protection  his  Imperial  Majesty 
accorded  to  all  his  subjects  ;  mitigation  of  the  fear  and  partial 
restoration  of  confidence  ;  the  opening  of  shops ;  and  then,  at 
some  fixed  hour,  in  every  part  of  the  cities,  murder — and  such 
murder !  Cool,  calm,  implacable.  Pleas  for  mercy  met  with 
the  bullet  or  the  sword,  and  that  too  not  of  ordinary  brigands, 
but  of  the  uniformed  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Government. 

After  murder  came  robbery,  until  not  a  shop  was  left  whose 
contents  had  not  been  distributed  among  the  fiends.  This 
was  the  case  in  Trebizond,  Erzrum,  Harput,  Sivas,  Marash, 
Aintab,  Diarbekir — all  the  large  cities  of  Eastern  and  South- 
ern Turkey. 

But  this  was  not  all.  For  half  a  century  American  mis- 
sionaries have  been  carrying  on  their  work  in  these  same 
places.  Turks  as  well  as  Christians  have  paid  them  high 
honor,  for  nobility  of  character  and  self-sacrificing  devotion. 
They  were  protected  by  treaty  rights,  and  solemn  promises 
were  given   by  the  Turkish   Government   that  those  rights 

would  be  respected.     Yet  in  two  cities  at  least,  HarpM  and 
19 


29f  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

Marash,  the  officers  of  that  Government  stood  by  and  saw 
their  homes  pillaged  and  destroyed.  Whose  turn  it  will  be 
next  only  God  knows. 

There  are  some  lights  in  the  darkness.  The  courage  of 
those  missionaries,  facing  the  disaster,  fully  conscious  of  the 
peril,  yet  never  swerving  a  hair's  breadth  from  duty,  and  refus- 
ing to  leave  those  whom  their  sympathy  may  comfort  and 
their  presence  encourage,  is  sublime.     One  such  wrote  : 

"  Every  letter  that  I  have  written  home  for  two  months 
past,  I  have  written  with  the  feeling  that  it  may  be  my  last 
This  will  give  you  an  idea  of  the  constant  strain  under  which 
we  live.  At  any  moment  the  earth  may  open  and  swallow 
us  up." 

He  has  been  warned  by  officials  that  his  life  is  in  peril,  yet 
every  day  he  goes  to  and  fro  doing  his  duty,  as  calmly  as  in 
the  days  of  Shiloh  and  Fort  Donelson.  We  know  of  others, 
a  husband  and  wife  in  another  city.  The  husband  urged  the 
wife  to  take  the  children  to  Constantinople.  She  refused,  and 
bound  up  wounds,  comforting  the  bereaved,  imparting  her 
own  high  courage  to  the  terror-stricken  women  about  her. 
And  they  are  not  alone.  All  over  the  land  American  men 
and  women  are  meeting  the  most  fearful  peril  with  simple 
trust  in  God. 

What  WiU  the  End  Be? 

What  the  end  will  be  and  when  it  will  come,  no  mortal  can 
foresee.  The  responsibility  rests  not  merely  upon  the  Sultan 
and  his  advisers,  but  upon  the  Governments  of  Europe.  If 
their  mutual  jealousy  be  the  cause  of  their  delay,  then  let 
them  beware  lest  when  vengeance  falls,  as  fall  it  will,  it  do 
not  overwhelm  them  as  well  as  the  Government  they  are  pro- 
tecting. 

With  the  diffiision  of  intelligence  there  has  developed 
material  prosperity.     The  advance  of  the  Christian  races  of 


The  Shame  of  Christendom.  291 

the  Empire  during  the  past  half  century  has  been  marvelous. 
Gradually  improved  methods  of  agriculture  and  business  crept 
in ;  homes  were  neater ;  there  was  more  of  frugality ;  foreign 
interests  developed,  and  with  all  came  prosperity  and  wealth. 
This  aroused  the  envy  of  the  Moslem  leaders,  and  has  had  not 
a  little  share  in  stirring  up  the  present  outrages.  The  thing, 
however,  that  gave  force  to  this  advance,  and  that  made  the 
Moslem  desperate,  was  the  increase  in  moral  and  religious 
power.  In  those  respects  the  change  that  has  come  over  the 
Empire  has  been  great. 

When  the  missionaries  commenced  work  among  the  Armen- 
ians they  had  no  thought  of  founding  a  separate  Church.  To 
this  they  were,  however,  forced  by  the  ignorant  hostility  of 
the  clergy.  To-day  that  has  ceased;  and  in  every  part  of  the 
land  the  wisest  and  best  of  the  ecclesiastics  welcome  the  mis- 
sionaries for  what  they  have  done  in  developing  a  higher 
purity  of  life,  a  greater  integrity  of  character,  a  more  spiritual 
worship. 

Work  of  Devoted  Missionaries. 

All  this  is  the  direct  result  of  the  earnest,  faithful,  constant 
labors  of  the  missionaries.  To  speak  of  it  as  in  any  sense  a 
failure  is  absurd.  To  deride  those  who  have  been  instru- 
mental in  bringing  it  about  is  monstrous.  To  allow  it  to  be 
destroyed,  as  it  will  be  if  the  present  situation  continues, 
would  be  criminal.  It  has  received  a  blow  from  which  it 
cannot  recover  for  many  years  to  come.  Christendom  must 
see  to  it  that  the  light  is  not  totally  extinguished. 

A  daily  journal  in  Montreal,  Canada,  quoted  an  appeal  to 
England  from  one  of  our  religious  journals,  and  said  : 

"  All  this  while  the  United  States  is  the  only  country  of 
whose  influence  no  other  country  is  jealous,  and  that  is  free 
to  act ;  and  the  only  one  that,  through  the  outrages  on  her 
missionaries,  has  a  distinct  quarrel." 


292  The  Shame  of  Christendom, 

To  which  the  journal  that  published  the  appeal  replied  as 
follows : 

This  is  worth  considering,  and  we  are  considering  it. 

But  if  we  appeal  first  to  England,  it  is  because  it  would 
be  impertinent  for  us  to  offer  to  interfere  until  England  has 
declined  to  do  her  duty.  By  the  treaty  of  Berlin  the  powers 
agreed  to  protect  the  integrity  of  Turkey,  and  it  is  made  the 
special  duty  of  England  to  protect  the  Christians  of  Turkey, 
and  see  that  the  Porte  does  not  massacre  or  oppress  them. 

Politically  we  are  outsiders.  We  are  not  parties  to  that 
treaty.  A  special  power,  and  that  power  Great  Britain,  has 
this  responsibility;  and  if  we  ask  Lord  Salisbury  to  do  his 
ciUty,  it  is  because  he  took  that  duty  upon  Great  Britain,  and 
so  upon  himself,  he  being  Prime  Minister. 

The  United  States  may  have  to  Act. 

If,  now,  he  refuses  to  do  this  duty,  or  if  Russia  tells  him 
»ie  need  not,  from  some  fear  that  England  will  gain  some 
political  advantage,  or  because,  as  appears  to  be  the  case,  in 
any  interference  of  Great  Britain  and  the  other  Powers,  Russia 
will  fail  to  get  possession  of  Constantinople,  or  as  big  a  slice 
of  Turkey  as  she  wants,  then  it  may  be  that  Great  Britain, 
having  failed  to  do,  or  to  be  able  to  do,  her  duty,  that  duty 
may  fall  to  the  United  States. 

It  looks,  at  present,  as  if  Great  Britain  were  the  only  one 
of  the  six  signatory  powers  that  really  is  influenced  by  any 
feeling  of  sympathy,  and  really  wishes  to  do  anything  to  pro- 
tect the  persecuted  Christians.  Germany  holds  back  as  indif- 
ferent as  in  the  time  of  Bulgaria's  agony.  Austria  is  domi- 
nated by  Germany.  Italy  is  too  isolated  and  too  occupied 
with  her  Abyssinian  war  to  do  anything  by  herself  France 
waits  as  a  humble  lackey  on  the  will  of  Russia,  and  Russia  is 
not  ready. 


The  Shame  of  Christendom.  293 

Intervention  is  very  likely  to  mean  partition.  The 
powers  that  intervene  have  got  to  hold  territory,  and  may 
not  give  it  up.  To  protect  the  Armenians  of  Eastern  Turkey 
Russia  must  send  an  army  to  Erzrum  and  Van,  and  France, 
Austria,  Italy,  Germany  and  England  their  armies  and  navies 
to  Constantinople  and  the  Mediterranean  coast.  Russia  would 
thus  hold  a  big  piece  of  territory  along  the  Black  Sea,  perhaps 
down  to  the  Persian  Gulf;  but  that  would  not  satisfy  her. 

Rnssia's  Great  Purpose. 

She  means  to  have  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem.  She 
regards  herself  as  the  successor  of  the  Greek  Empire,  as  well 
as  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  to  her,  therefore,  must  come  the 
old  capital  of  Constantine  and  holy  city  of  Helena.  An  inter- 
vention of  England  and  the  other  powers  might  put  off  inde- 
finitely the  accomplishment  of  this  purpose.  She  will  do 
nothing,  and  allow  nothing  which  will  interfere  with  her 
"  manifest  destiny."  The  pear,  when  ripe,  will  fall,  she  thinks, 
into  her  lap,  and  she  does  not  want  it  plucked  prematurely. 

Besides,  Russia  is  now  very  busy  with  even  more  pressing 
issues  in  the  far  East.  There  has  been  a  war  between  China 
and  Japan,  and  the  latter  power  has  seized  Korea  and  Chinese 
ports  on  which  Russia  has  cast  a  covetous  eye.  First  Japan 
must  be  driven  out  of  Korea  and  China,  and  a  big  part  of 
Chinese  territory  must  be  acquired 'by  Russia,  and  this  will 
brook  no  delay.  Therefore  Russia  will  forbid  and  prevent 
England's  intervention  in  Turkey. 

Unless  there  be  some  massacre  of  Greeks,  or  some  uprising 
of  young  Turks  in  Constantinople,  or  an  insurrection  and 
slaughter  in  Jerusalem  affecting  Russian  interests  there,  it 
now  seems  as  if  Russia  would  block  the  way  to  any  vigorous 
action  by  England  or  any  other  European  power. 

If  no  European  power  does  anything,  then  has  the  United 


294  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

States  any  duty  ?  This  is  a  very  serious  question  which  we 
commend  to  the  most  careful  attention  of  President  Cleve- 
land and  Secretary  Olney.  As  our  Montreal  contemporary 
has  said,  the  United  States  is  the  only  country  of  whose  influ- 
ence no  other  country  is  jealous,  and  which  is  thus  perfectly 
free  to  act ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  the  only  one  which, 
through  the  outrages  on  her  citizens,  has  a  distinct  quarrel. 
These  outrages  on  our  citizens  are  already  of  such  a  magni- 
tude that  they  justify  and  demand  our  interference,  not  for 
any  territorial  aggrandizement  or  any  political  purpose,  but 
simply  in  the  long  line  of  our  action  for  the  protection  of  oui" 
peo^jle  abroad.  , 

Destruction  of  American  Property. 

Large  amounts  of  American  property  have  been  destroyed ; 
our  citizens  are  now  practically  prisoners  in  such  of  their 
houses  as  have  not  been  burned ;  their  homes  have  been 
sacked,  and  they  are  in  daily  danger  of  their  lives.  It  is  a 
duty  of  our  Government  to  see  that  they  are  protected.  We 
have  hitherto  depended  very  much  on  England  to  do  it;  now 
we  must  depena  on  ourselves.  We  have  blustered,  and  we 
have  threatened  the  Porte,  and  this  has  done  no  good.  Against 
our  warnings  our  buildings  have  been  destroyed  at  Harput  and 
Marash  and  elsewhere,  and  it  is  time  for  us  to  do  something. 

But  this  is  not  all.  "  Turkey  is,  by  the  consent  of  all 
Christendom  in  its  dealings  with  her,  a  semi-barbarous  power. 
No  strong  civilized  power  should  allow  a  barbarous  people 
to  murder  its  citizens  ;  and  least  of  all  can  Christian  nations 
stand  still  and  see  tens  of  thousands  of  subject  Christians 
made  martyrs  because  they  believe  in  the  same  Saviour  whom 
we  honor.  We  are  brethren,  as  Christians ;  more  than  that, 
we  are  all  brethren  as  human  beings,  and  we  have  brotherly 
duties  to  our  fellow-men.     We  may   not  be  a  proud,  vain, 


The  Shame  of  Christendom.  295 

selfish,  overbearing,  grasping  nation  among  weaker  nations, 
but  we  have  some  duty  in  the  policing  of  the  world  and  the 
putting  down  of  piracy  and  massacre.  Perhaps  the  time 
has  come — we  think  it  has — for  us  to  wait  no  longer  for  the 
European  powers  to  act. 

We  believe  that  if  we  should  send  our  strongest  force  to 
the  ports  of  the  Mediterranean,  perhaps  to  Constantinople 
itself,  or  if  we  should  send  a  thousand  or  more  soldiers  or 
marines  as  a  police  force  to  protect  our  citizens  and  our 
property  in  Adana,  Tarsus  and  Marash,  England,  and  Italy 
and  Germany  and  Austria  would  be  delighted  to  see  it  done, 
and  the  result  would  be  immediately  good.  Are  we  not 
ready  for  it  ?  Shall  we  not  protect  our  citizens  and  our 
property,  which  Turkey  cannot  protect?  In  doing  this  we 
shall  take  no  part  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  Old  World, 
and — if  anybody  worries  about  it — we  shall  not  in  any  way 
impair  our  Monroe  Doctrine. 

First  and  Imperative  Duty. 

When  our  neighbor's  house  is  burning  we  do  not  need  to 
stop  any  longer  to  watch  an  election  bonfire.  When  the 
Christian  population  of  Turkey  is  being  murdered  we  can 
adjourn  our  difficulty  with  Great  Britain  until  we  have  first 
protected  the  Armenians.  The  Monroe  Doctrine,  with  all  its 
applications,  will  not  spoil  if  we  keep  it  on  ice  for  a  little 
while. 

With  no  prejudice  to  all  our  duties  of  protection  to  Vene- 
zuela, we  protest  that  there  is  a  much  greater  duty  on  hand 
just  now,  one  that  more  closely  affects  our  own  people  who 
have  come  from  the  Armenian  country  to  live  with  us,  many 
thousands  of  them,  and  our  own  citizens,  hundreds  of  them, 
who  are  carrying  on  their  lawful  pursuits  in  that  unhappy 
land.     Without  forgetting  Venezuela,  but  letting  it  cool  in 


296  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

the  pot  of  diplomacy  for  a  while,  we  had  better  hurry  up  to 
rescue  those  who  are  caught  in  that  burning  house. 

But  the  apathy  of  people  next  to  it  is  shocking,  is  dis- 
graceful. No  wonder  that  we  hear  from  Constantinople  the 
cry,  "We  are  ashamed  of  the  nations  of  Christendom." 
The  repeated,  the  continued  massacres  are  enough  to  make 
heathen  Japan  intervene,  just  out  of  human  sympathy.  Of 
course  the  first  duty  of  intervention  and  protection  rests  on 
the  powers  which  have  agreed  by  treaty  to  be  responsible  for 
the  continued  existence  of  Turkey,  and  for  the  defense  of  its 
Christian  subjects  from  persecution;  that  is,  on  England, 
assisted — or  hindered — by  Russia  and  the  other  nations  whose 
councils  and  armies  maintain  the  sacred  "  balance  of  power." 

But  they  do  absolutely  nothing,  It  is  the  most  amazing 
exhibition  of  incompetence,  inefficiency  and  iniquity  in  the 
history  of  Europe,  We  repeat  the  cry  from  Constantinople. 
We  are  ashamed  of  the  nations  of  Christendom. 

The  Shame  of  England. 

We  may  be  more  indignant  with  selfish  Russia  or  Germany, 
but  we  are  ashamed  of  England.  That  country  has  its  special 
duties  to  protect  the  Armenians,  put  upon  it  by  obligation  of 
treaty.  We  know  that  Salisbury  says  that  he  can  do  nothing 
without  the  consent  of  the  other  powers  ;  but  we  declare  that 
the  horrors  of  massacre  and  of  forced  apostasy  are  such  that 
it  is  no  time  to  wait  for  consent.  It  is  a  time  for  intervention. 
The  English  fleet  ought  to  be  ordered  immediately  to  seize 
Constantinople,  and  then  the  Russian  and  Italian  and  French 
fleets  would  be  quick  enough  to  seize  the  other  ports. 

Then  the  Government  of  Turkey  should  be  put  immediately 
into  commission ;  and  at  whatever  danger  of  temporary  dis- 
order, which  cannot  be  worse  than  what  now  exists,  order 
should  be  restored,  the  assassins  reduced  to  submission  and 


The  SJiame  of  Christendom.  297 

punished,  the  captive  women  and  children  restored,  and  time 
taken  to  decide  how  Turkey  can  be  safely  governed  in  future'. 
We  are  heartily  ashamed  of  England  that  she  does  not  take 
the  lead  in  this  duty  which  is  hers  first.  , 

But  Great  Britain  and  the  other  powers  have  as  yet  done  I 
nothing.  Each  says  it  is  hindered  by  the  others.  Meanwhile, 
the  house  is  burning  down,  and  is  there  not  time  for  the 
neighbors  a  little  further  away  to  come  to  the  help,  seeing 
that  the  neighbors  near  by  are  so  busy  quarreling  as  to  which 
will  loot  the  plunder  that  not  one  of  them  can  get  near  the 
fire?     Has  not  the  United  States  a  duty  of  intervention? 

The  Higher  Law  of  Humanity. 

We  fully  believe  that  this  is  our  duty,  and  that,  too,  noc 
because  our  citizens  need  protection,  although  that  were 
enough,  but  from  the  vastly  higher  obligation  of  humanity. 
Have  we  a  right  to  stand  still  while  fifty  thousand  men  are 
slaughtered,  martyred  because  they  are  Christians,  because 
they  refuse  to  accept  the  Moslem  faith,  and  while  their  women 
and  children  are  seized  and  carried  to  the  harems  of  the 
Turks?  No.  If  the  man  next  door  does  not  run  to  the  help, 
then  we  should.  We  do  not  need  to  wait  till  our  own  citizens 
are  also  killed.  All  international  law,  all  decency,  all  brother- 
hood, all  Christianity  require  us,  these  United  States,  to  make 
forcible  and  effective  intervention. 

It  is  too  late  now  to  prevent  the  massacres  past ;  there  is 
no  time  to  be  lost  in  saving  those  who  remain ;  and,  seeing 
that  the  United  States  is  not  at  all  concerned  in  the  political  * 
outcome  there,  and  is  more  interested  than  all  other  countries 
put  together,  so  far  as  the  protection  of  her  citizens  is  con- 
cerned, we  trust  that  speedy  action  may  be  taken,  much  more 
vigorous,  and  that  shall  back  up  with  force  the  threats  of 
our  Minister  at  Constantinople.     We  have  not  a  very  big 


298  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

navy,  but  we  have  ships  enough  for  this  purpose,  and  we  can 
charter  all  the  transports  needed. 

We  are  not  impressed  by  the  widely-repeated  declaration 
that  the  warning  given  by  the  United  States  to  Great  Britain, 
that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  must  be  enforced,  has  emancipated 
Great  Britain  from  all  obligation  to  protect  the  Armenian 
Christians  from  their  murderous  oppressors.  The  war  scare, 
precipitated  by  a  paragraph  in  the  President's  message,  more 
plain-spoken  than  diplomatic,  lasted  but  two  days. 

Side  Issues  no  Excuse. 

It  was  a  foolish  scare,  for  it  was  inconceivable  that  our  two 
Governments  should  not  come  to  a  peaceable  conclusion  of 
their  difficulties  without  dishonor  to  either.  Great  Britain's 
duties  are  not  changed,  for  we  are  not  going  to  tie  her  hands. 
If  we  had  any  serious  quarrel  with  her  we  could  adjourn  it  in 
the  interests  of  humanity. 

The  lawless  invasion  of  a  semi-independent  State  in  South 
Africa  by  British  subjects,  in  defense  of  their  fellow-subjects 
against  real  wrongs,  has  aroused  Europe  to  indignant  denun- 
ciations of  England.  Our  beloved  mother  country  seems  to 
be  attacked  on  every  side,  even  although  the  British  Govern- 
ment has  done  its  best,  at  the  last  hour,  to  prevent  the  filibus- 
tering movement  of  Dr.  Jameson's  army. 

The  dispatch  of  the  German  Emperor  is  positively  and 
insultingly  hostile,  and  invites  the  Free  Republic  to  throw  off 
all  its  allegiance  to  England  in  foreign  affairs.  He  definitely 
interferes  with  the  British  colonial  policy;  and  France  is 
echoing  Germany.  This  is  really  serious ;  it  is  no  two-days* 
scare. 

It  may  compel  Great  Britain  to  call  back  part  of  her  fleet 
from  the  door  of  the  Dardanelles.  If  our  little  warning  over 
Venezuela  could  excuse  Great  Britain  from  doing  her  boun- 


The  Shame  of  Christendom,  299 

den  duty  for  the  Armenians,  then  Germany's  threat  does  it 
tenfold  more.  And  we  fear  that  it  does  it  effectually.  VVe 
suspect  that,  for  the  present,  Great  Britain  is  annihilated  as  a 
factor  in  the  protection  of  the  Armenian  Christians. 

A  Startling  Possibility. 

What  then  ?  Possibly  Russia,  England  being  out  of  the 
way,  may  feel  that  she  has  a  free  hand  even  to  take  Constan- 
tinople, and  wipe  out  the  Turk.  But  that  is  so  tremendous 
a  possibility,  and  might  so  involve  a  European  war,  that  we 
can  hardly  believe  it  probable.  It  is  more  likely  that,  since 
the  only  power  is  crippled  that  has  any  Christian  sympathy, 
nothing  will  be  done,  and  the  Porte  will  be  left  at  liberty  to 
murder  to  his  heart's  content,  and  once  more  offer  the  alter- 
native of  the  sword  or  the  Koran,  as  he  has  done  so  many 
times  before. 

Calamity  has  overtaken  the  American  missions  in  Turkey. 
During  the  storm  of  blood  and  fire,  by  which  Islam  has  com- 
mended itself  to  its  subjects  and  the  world,  these  missions 
have  been  special  objects  of  malice.  To  the  aggressors  the 
missions  represent  the  source  of  the  enlightenment  and  civiliza- 
tion, to  eradicate  which  the  massacres  were  ordained. 

Of  the  destruction  which  has  overtaken  the  Harput  station 
of  the  American  Board's  mission,  the  whole  country  is  aware. 
Four  buildings  out  of  twelve  remain,  stripped  of  every  particle 
of  their  contents,  torn  with  bullets  and  cannon  balls,  blackened 
with  fire,  and  surrounded  by  the  grim  ash-heaps  which  are  all 
that  remain  of  the  other  buildings  gradually  erected  during 
the  last  forty  years  to  be  the  centre  of  operations  for  this  noble 
station. 

Of  the  desolation  which  has  overwhelmed  Marash  station, 
the  American  churches  have  also  heard.  The  Theological 
Seminary  there  is  a  pile  of  smoking  ruins,  and  the  two  other 


300  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

buildings  in  the  same  enclosure  stand  pillaged  and  empty. 
Whatever  the  attacking  soldiers  could  not  carry  away  or  did 
not  value,  was  destroyed  by  ruffian  hands  through  sheer 
hatred  of  the  teachings  against  which  they  had  been  called 
into  action. 

Disasters  to  be  Remedied. 

Thus  far  the  missionaries  in  all  of  the  stations  have  been 
almost  miraculously  saved  from  death.  But  congratulations 
are  misplaced  which  regard  the  safety  of  the  persons  of  the 
missionaries  as  sufficient  cause  for  condoning  the  loss  of  prop- 
erty which  they  have  suffered.  The  lives  of  the  missionaries 
are  not  all  in  which  the  American  churches  have  an  interest 
in  Turkey.  Disaster  has  overtaken  the  general  equipment  of 
the  American  Board's  missions  in  Turkey.  This  equipment 
is  the  property  of  the  American  churches. 

Since  1830  the  churches  have  spent  more  than  six  millions 
of  dollars  upon  the  equipment,  maintenance  and  development 
of  these  missions.  Except  Constantinople  and  three  other 
stations  in  the  extreme  west  of  Asia  Minor,  all  of  the  Ameri- 
can Board's  stations  have  suffered  more  heavily  than  was  sup- 
posed. Information  oozes  but  slowly  from  under  the  nau- 
seous mass  of  falsehood  which  seeks  to  cover  up  the  facts. 

Probably  at  least  one  hundred  of  the  village  chapels  and 
school-houses  have  been  pillaged  and  destroyed,  or  seized  by 
the  Mohammedans  for  purposes  of  their  own.  Five-sixths 
of  the  stock  of  the  books  which  the  American  Board  and  the 
American  Bible  Society  had  placed  on  sale  in  scores  of  the 
depots  and  salesrooms  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  have 
been  carried  off,  cast  into  rivers  and  ponds,  or  used,  after  satu- 
ration with  petroleum,  as  convenient  instruments  of  incen- 
diarism. 

Congregations  have  been  scattered,  schools  are  broken  up, 
leading  men  are  dead,  and  numbers  of  Christian  women  and 


The  Shame  of  Christendom,  301 

children  are  missing.  The  congregations,  in  general,  are 
financially  ruined,  and  their  members  are  among  those  now 
dependent  on  charity  for  daily  bread.  For  years  past  these 
congregations  have  been  paying  about  one-half  of  the  aggre- 
gate expense  of  maintaining  pastors  and  schools  under  the 
care  of  the  American  Board  in  Turkey. 

Slaughter  of  the  Faithful. 

This  power  of  sustaining  evangelistic  work  has  vanished. 
More  than  all  this,  as  the  reports  come  in,  the  roll  of  the  dead 
among  the  pastors  and  preachers  and  teachers  is  constantly 
increasing.  Pastor  Kilijjian,  of  Sivas,  was  killed,  and  his 
body  laid  in  a  trench,  with  800  other  mangled  corpses,  to  rest 
until  the  day  when  it  shall  be  raised  in  glory.  Seven  pastors 
in  the  Harpiat  station  field  are  already  known  to  have  died 
the  martyr's  death,  willingly  testifying  to  their  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ  when  told  that  they  must  die  if  they  did  not  deny  Him. 
The  head  teacher  of  the  boys'  school  at  Bitlis  is  dead,  and  his 
bruised  and  gashed  body  was  found,  after  long  search,  lying 
naked  in  the  mud  of  a  street.  Teacher  Leon,  of  Marash,  was 
flayed  alive.  The  full  facts  will  be  long  in  coming  to  light; 
but  a  great  reduction  in  the  number  of  workers  in  these  mis- 
sions is  to  be  expected.  At  first  sight  the  enterprise  of  the 
American  Board  in  Turkey  appears  to  be  all  but  annihilated, 
so  far  as  its  most  important  and  most  interesting  branch  is 
concerned,  the  village  evangelistic  work. 

But  ask  the  missionaries  what  of  the  future,  and  all  speak, 
in  one  voice.  That  band  at  HarpM,  saved  by  the  hand  of  God 
from  the  hail  of  bullets,  stripped  of  all  their  possessions  and 
left  huddled  together  in  the  bare  houses  surrounded  by  smok- 
ing ruins,  and  within  sight  of  the  bodies  of  slaughtered 
parishioners,  in  almost  their  first  utterance  after  the  disaster, 
said:  "Please  do  not  order  us  to  leave  HarpM."     In  that 


302  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

utterance  they  spoke  for  all  the  missionaries  in  Turkey  who 

have  passed  through  this  baptism  of  fire. 

The  very  disaster  which  has  overwhelmed  the  missions  of 

the  American  Board  has  opened  the  way  for  a  glorious  work 

for  God  and  humanity.     To   leave  the  country  now  would 

seem  to  the  missionaries  the  desertion  of  a  sacred  trust,  the 

abandonment  of  a  unique  opportunity  for  doing  Christ's  own 

work,  and  the  casting  away  of  the  fruitage  from  the  labor  of 

more  than  half  a  century.     No,  the  missionaries  cannot  leave 

Turkey. 

American  Sympathy  Dem.aiided. 

But  the  American  churches  must  also  rise  to  the  height 
of  the  present  opportunity  to  show  this  stricken  people  and 
their  persecutors  what  Christianity  really  is.  God's  Provi- 
dence now  calls  to  the  churches  to  rally  to  the  support  of 
the  American  Board  in  an  effort  to  extract  beauty  from 
ashes.  While  the  whole  nation  is  grandly  moving  to  feed 
and  clothe  the  bodies  of  the  starving,  let  not  the  need  of  the 
stricken  souls  be  forgotten. 

Let  the  Board  be  furnished  with  ample  funds  to  restore 
its  equipment,  and  to  prosecute  its  great  work  of  comfort 
and  enlightenment  with  renewed  vigor.  The  people  are 
listening  as  never  before  to  the  comforting  words  of  God's 
promises.  Onward !  is  the  Master's  call  in  this  emergency. 
Let  advance  along  the  whole  line  be  the  program  of  th*^ 
churches  everywhere  in  reference  to  the  American  Board. 

Americans  have  invested  millions  in  the  enterprise  of 
missions  in  Turkey.  This  enterprise,  so  far  as  the  laws  are 
concerned,  is  a  pure  question  of  business.  American  citizens 
choose  to  invest  large  sums  of  money  in  a  lawful  enterprise 
in  Turkey,  which  they  have  carried  on  for  many  years  with 
the  strictest  regard  to  the  laws  of  the  land. 

Whether  the  enterprise  which  occupies  American  citizens 


The  Shame  of  Christendom.  303 

and  American  capital  in  Turkey  is  mining  or  railroad  build- 
ing, or,  as  in  the  case  of  the  missions,  it  is  the  manufacture 
and  sale  of  books,  or  the  erection  of  a  large  system  of  educa- 
tional institutions,  the  treaties  guarantee  its  protection,  and 
the  millions  of  American  gold  invested  in  it  are  entitled  to 
the  protection  of  the  United  States  against  attack  by  the 
Turkish  people  or  the  Turkish  Government.  The  disaster 
which  has  come  upon  the  missions  of  the  Board  is  not  the 
work  of  a  great  popular  uprising  or  of  ai  revolution  outside 
of  the  control  of  the  Ottoman  Government.  It  is  the  deliber- 
ate act  of  the  Ottoman  Government  itself. 

Hatred  of  Oivilizatioii. 

The  present  administration  of  government  in  Turkey 
dislikes  the  civilization  which  its  predecessors  invited  and 
protected  when  the  missions  were  being  organized.  It  there- 
fore has  set  at  nought  all  treaties  with  the  United  States,  and 
has  ordered  its  officials,  its  troops  and  its  people  to  unite  in 
destroying  the  property  and  the  business  of  these  Americans 
of  the  missionary  force. 

The  hundreds  of  thousands  of  American  citizens  who  have 
invested  their  money  in  this  great  enterprise  and  are  the  real 
owners  and  shareholders  of  the  property  thus  destroyed, 
should  let  the  Government  at  Washington  know  that  protec- 
tion of  their  agents  where  they  are,  and  not  mere  provision  of 
ships  to  take  them  away  because  the  Sultan  has  changed  his 
mind  about  observing  treaties,  is  the  aim  which  the  importance 
of  the  capital  invested  demands  of  the  United  States  to-day. 

As  information  comes  in  from  the  districts  south  of  Eastern 
Turkey,  the  proof  increases  that  the  whole  series  of  massacres 
in  Bitlis,  Diarbekir,  Erzrtm,  Harptll;,  etc.,  were  under  the 
direct  supervision  of  the  Turkish  Government.  The  city  of 
Mardin  is  about  sixty  miles  south  of  Diarbekir,  on  the  edge 


304  The  Shame  of  Christendom. 

of  the  great  Mesopotamia  plain.  To  the  east  lies  the  region 
of  Jebel  Tiir,  occupied  by  Jacobites  and  Kurds.  The  Kurds 
are  in  some  respects  bolder  and  more  aggressive  than  their 
fellows  to  the  north,  but  not  more  brutal. 

A  Successful  Defense. 

As  the  news  came  of  the  sacking  of  Diarbekir  their  taste 
lor  plunder  was  whetted,  and  they  began  to  form  plans  for 
attacks  upon  Mardin  itself,  and  Midyat,  the  chief  city  of  the 
Jebel  TiCir  region.  They  gathered  in  large  numbers,  and  witli 
no  city  walls  it  seemed  as  if  the  cities  would  be  at  their  mercy. 

Representations  were  immediately  made  to  the  Governor 
of  the  city.  All  available  troops  were  called  out,  and  troops 
and  citizens,  both  Christian  and  Moslem,  combined  in  defense, 
with  the  result  that  both  of  these  cities  have  been  spared,  and 
are  considered  to  be  out  of  danger.  More  than  that,  the 
troops  were  sent  to  a  number  of  villages  that  were  threatened 
by  the  Kurds,  drove  back  the  marauders,  and  brought  the 
people  under  the  protection  of  the  Government  in  the  city. 

Similar  statements  come  from  Mosul.  There,  too,  there 
were  fears  of  an  incursion  of  the  Kurds  from  the  region  of 
Rowandiz — the  same  men  who,  under  Sheik  Obeidullah,  rav- 
aged the  plain  of  Urumia  about  fourteen  years  ago.  There, 
too,  the  Governor  acted  with  promptness  and  determination, 
and  not  merely  saved  the  city,  but  infused  not  a  little  courage 
into  the  minds  of  the  people. 

Contrast  with  these  facts  those  at  Bitlis,  Harput  and  else- 
where. In  Bitlis,  at  the  sound  of  the  bugle,  the  markets  were 
closed,  and  the  entrapped  merchants  cut  down  in  their  stalls. 
At  the  sound  of  the  bugle  the  killing  stopped,  and  the  pillage 
began,  and  went  on  till  every  Christian  shop  was  looted. 

At  HarpM,  after  a  parley  with  the  Kurds,  the  Turkish 
troops  drew  up  on  an  eminence  below  the  city,  and,  when 


The  Shame  of  Christendom.  305 

ordered  to  fire,  fired  not  at  the  Kurds,  but  at  the  city  itself, 
the  marks  of  their  bullets  appearing  in  the  walls  of  the 
American  houses,  and  one  of  their  bombs  being  found  in  a 
ruined  house.  The  same  facts  occurred  in  Erzrum,  Diarbekir, 
Trebizond ;   every  place  where  there  was  massacre. 

Note,  also,  the  fact  that  not  a  single  Greek  village  has  been 
attacked,  though  there  are  many  in  the  vicinity  of  Trebizond, 
Cesarea  and  Marsovan.  Was  there  no  significance  in  the  fact 
that  even  in  Diarbekir  the  massacre  and  pillaging  stopped  as 
suddenly  as  they  had  begun,  and  was  there  no  connection 
between  it  and  the  fact  that  the  French  Ambassador  sent 
word  to  the  Porte  that,  if  any  damage  at  all  came  to  the 
French  Consulate  in  that  city,  a  French  fleet  would  hold 
Alexandretta  until  the  head  of  the  Governor  had  fallen? 

So  also  when  a  band  of  Kurds,  inflamed  by  their  success 
in  the  Harput  plain,  wandered  west,  they  were  met  by  Turkish 
officials  on  the  border  of  the  Province  of  Sivas,  and  told  to  go 
back ;  that  there  was  nothing  for  them  there ;  that  work  had 
been  done.     They  grumbled,  but  they  turned  back. 

Base  Hypocrisy. 

If  the  Turkish  Government  could  protect  Mardin  and 
Mosul,  and  the  French  Consulate  at  Diarbekir,  and  turn  the 
Kurds  back  from  Sivas,  it  is  the  height  of  absurdity  for  it  to 
say  that  it  could  do  nothing  at  Harput,  Bitlis  and  Erzrtim. 
It  could  even  have  done  more,  for  the  Kurds  of  the  South  are 
more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  kinsmen  of  the  North,  and  the 
Turkish  garrisons  are  weaker.  It  has  been  the  boast  of  those 
who  defended  Abdul  Hamid  II.,  that  he  was  so  deeply  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare  of  his  people  that  he  must  know  their 
affairs  to  the  minutest  detail. 

Not  a  school  was  to  be  established,  not  a  ship  repaired,  not 
a  house  built  without  his  supervision.     Their  own  arguments 


306  The  Shame  of  Chrisiendom. 

return  on  them  with  terrible  force.  If  he  did  not  know  of  the 
massacres,  then  he  is  an  ignorant  puppet  in  the  hands  of  his 
Ministers.  If  he  did  know  but  could  not  stop  them,  he  is  an 
absolute  incompetent.  If  he  not  only  knew  but  condoned  or 
even  ordered  the  destruction  of  a  nation,  he  is  a  criminal  to  be 
ranked  with  the  Neros,  Caligulas,  and  Borgias  of  infamy. 

A  Question  of  Personal  Obligation. 

Just  now  the  attention  of  the  world  is  turned  to  Turkey  and 
the  Armenian  people.  Those  who  are  not  interested  in  the 
mission  work  are  interested  in  the  terrible  events  of  the  last 
few  months  and  the  efforts  made  to  relieve  the  suffering  and 
starving  thousands  there.  The  Christians  of  America  have 
reason  carefully  to  consider  their  personal  duty  to  their 
Christian  brethren  in  Turkey. 

Owing  to  the  heavy  debt  upon  the  American  Board,  at  the 
last  annual  meeting  held  in  Brooklyn  it  was  voted  that 

The  Prudential  Committee  in  making  the  appropriations 
and  expending  the  resources  committed  to  our  hands  are  not 
to  be  held  responsible  for  disastrous  results  which  may  ensue 
from  the  insufficiency  of  those  expenditures ;  and  that  they  be 
instructed  so  far  as  practicable  to  restrict  those  operations 
within  the  measure  of  the  means  furnished  them.  For  all 
limitations  or  suffering  thus  occasioned  the  churches  must 
answer. 

Acting  under  these  instructions  the  Prudential  Committee 
reduced  the  salaries  of  the  missionaries  in  all  fields  of  the 
Boards,  except  in  Asiatic  Turkey,  by  ten  per  cent.,  and  the 
amount  given  for  the  general  work — for  churches,  schools  and 
general  evangelization — about  forty  per  cent. ;  this  was  neces- 
sary to  avoid  increasing  the  debt.  However  severe  this  reduc- 
tion may  be  in  other  mission  fields  we  desire  to  call  attention 
to  the  fact  that  it  will  be  almost  fatal  to  the  work  in  Turkey. 
Some  of  the  reasons,  as  given  us  by  Secretary  Barton,  are ; 


The  Shame  of  Christendom.  307 

1.  A  large  number  of  churches,  parsonages  and  schools 
have  been  destroyed  during  the  past  three  months  in  Turkey. 
If  these  are  not  rebuilt,  the  people  cannot  hold  services  or 
continue  their  schools.  To  fail  to  rebuild  is  to  openly  acknow- 
ledge defeat. 

2.  The  people  have  been  impoverished  by  fire,  robbery  and 
slaughter,  and  a  large  number  of  the  most  wealthy  Protestant 
families  have  been  completely  wiped  out.  Churches  that  have 
been  independent  are  now  in  immediate  need  of  assistance  in 
order  to  support  any  kind  of  Christian  work. 

3.  The  Christians  of  Turkey  feel,  and  that,  too,  with  good 
reason,  that  the  Christian  nations  of  the  world  have  abandoned 
them  to  their  fate.  They  have  looked  in  vain  for  political 
help,  and  are  almost  in  despair.  If  now  the  churches  in 
America  shall  seem  to  be  unmindful  of  their  need  of  spiritual 
help  and  relief,  and  withdraw  in  these  darkest  hours  the  help 
heretofore  given  when  less  necessary,  it  cannot  fail  to  be  to 
them  the  last  bitter  potion  in  their  terribly  bitter  cup  of 
despair. 

4.  If  in  any  measure  we  curtail  our  help  for  Turkey  at  this 
juncture,  when  difficulties  multiply  and  dangers  increase,  it 
cannot  fail  to  give  the  impression  to  the  people  of  Turkey  and 
the  world  that  we  of  America  are  willing  to  do  mission  work 
so  long  as  we  can  do  it  easily  and  safely.  Such  action  cannot 
fail  to  be  interpreted  that  our  zeal  for  Christ  and  for  men  is 
not  strong  enough  to  endure  persecution.  A  terrible  thought 
must  this  be  to  those  who,  during  the  last  few  weeks,  have 
faced  a  hundred  deaths  for  Him! 

5.  Missions  have,  during  the  last  sixty  years,  brought 
before  the  world  the  Armenian  people.  The  marked  prog- 
ress this  nation  has  made  has  drawn  down  upon  it  the  jealousy 
and  wrath  of  the  Moslem  rulers.  The  depths  into  which  it  is 
crushed  to-day  are  made  more  dark  and  deep  and  terrible  by 
the  height  to  which  it  had  climbed.  Can  we  abandon  this  race 
now,  or  afford  even  to  appear  to  do  so,  amid  the  perils  which 
liave  come  to  it  through  the  enlightenment  we  ourselves  have 
carried  to  it  ? 

6.  The  movement  in  Turkey  is  against  an  enlightened 
Christianity.     The  first  terrible  blow  has  been  struck.     If, 


308  Tfie  Shame  of  Christendom. 

now,  the  Moslems  see  the  Christian  forces  weakening  and  a 
quiet  retreat  begun,  they  will  at  once  proclaim  the  victory 
theirs.  The  forces  of  Islam  will  be  collected  and  unified,  and 
a  crusade  against  the  Cross,  and  all  the  Cross  represents,  will 
be  inevitable. 

But  we  need  not  continue.  It  is  true,  hundreds  of  Chris- 
tians— yes,  thousands,  have  been  martyred ;  but  that  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  abandon  the  thousands  who  yet  remain 
true  to  their  faith.  The  missionaries,  in  their  common  suffer- 
ing and  danger,  have  won  the  confidence  and  affection  of 
thousands  more  who  never  knew  them  before. 

Shall  we  bind  the  hands  of  the  brave  missionaries,  crush 
the  hope  of  starving,  bleeding  Christians  and  openly  confess 
victory  for  the  Moslem  persecutors  ? 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

The  following  appeal,  addressed  to  the  people  of  England 
and  to  the  British  Government,  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Dillon,  should 
also  come  home  to  every  heart  and  conscience  in  America. 
Mr.  Dillon  says  : 

The  tim«^  has  come  for  every  reasoning  inhabitant  of  these 
islands  deliberately  to  accept  or  repudiate  his  share  of  the 
joint  indirect  responsibility  of  the  British  nation  for  a  series 
of  the  hugest  and  foulest  crimes  that  have  ever  stained  the 
pages  of  human  history.  The  Armenian  people  in  Anatolia 
are  being  exterminated,  root  and  branch,  by  Turks  and  Kurds 
— systematically  and  painfully  exterminated  by  such  abomin- 
able methods  and  with  such  fiendish  accompaniments  as  may 
well  cause  the  most  sluggish  blood  to  boil  and  seethe  with 
shame  and  indignation. 

For  the  Armenians  are  not  lawless  barbarians  or  brigands  ; 
nor  are  the  Turks  and  Kurds  the  accredited  torch-bearers  of 
civilization.  But  even  if  the  idles  of  the  actors  in  this  hideous 
drama  were  thus  distributed,  an  excuse  might  at  most  be 
found  for  severity,  but  no  pretext  could  be  discovered  for  the 
slow  torture  and  gradual  vivisection  employed  by  fanatic 
Mohammedans  to  end  the  lives  of  their  Christian  neighbors. 

If,  for  instance,  it  be  expedient  that  Armenians  should  be 
exterminated,  why  chop  them  up  piecemeal,  and,  in  the  inter- 
vals of  this  protracted  process,  banter  the  agonized  victims 
who  are  wildly  calling  upon  God  and  man  to  put  them  out  of 
pain  ?    Why  must  an  honest,  hard-working  man  be  torn  from 

309 


310  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

his  bed  or  his  fireside,  forced  to  witness  the  violation  of  his 
daughter  by  a  band  of  all-pitiless  demons,  unable  to  rescue  or 
help  her,  and  then,  his  own  turn  come,  have  his  hand  cut  off 
and  stuffed  into  his  mouth,  while  a  short  sermon  is  being 
preached  to  him  on  the  text,  "  If  your  God  be  God,  why  does 
He  not  succor  you  ?"  at  the  peroration  of  which  the  other 
hand  is  hacked  off,  and,  amid  boisterous  shouts  of  jubilation, 
his  ears  are  torn  from  his  head  and  his  feet  severed  with  a 
hatchet,  while  the  piercing  screams,  the  piteous  prayers,  the 
hideous  contortions  of  the  agonizing  victim  intoxicate  with 
physico-spiritual  ecstasies  the  souls  of  the  frantic  fanatics 
around  ? 

Jokes  and  Blasphemies. 

And  why,  when  the  last  and  merciful  stroke  of  death  is 
being  dealt,  must  obscene  jokes  and  unutterable  blasphemies 
sear  the  victim's  soul  and  prolong  his  hell  to  the  uttermost 
limits  of  time,  to  the  very  threshold  of  eternity  ?  Surely, 
roasting  alive,  flaying,  disembowelling,  impaling,  and  all  that 
elaborate  and  ingenious  aggravation  of  savage  pain  on  which 
the  souls  of  these  human  fiends  seem  to  feast  and  flourish, 
have  nothing  that  can  excuse  them  in  the  eyes  of  Christians, 
however  deeply  absorbed  in  politics. 

But  it  is  the  Turks  and  Kurds  who,  at  their  best,  are  stag- 
nant, sluggish,  and  utterly  averse  to  progress ;  and  at  their 
worst  are — the  beings  who  conceive,  perpetrate,  and  glory  in 
the  horrors  just  enumerated  and  in  others  that  must  be  name- 
less. The  Armenians,  on  the  contrary,  constitute  the  sole 
civilizing — nay,  with  all  their  many  faults,  the  sole  humanizing 
— element  in  Anatolia  ;  peaceful  to  the  degree  of  self-sacrifice, 
law-abiding  to  their  own  undoing,  and  industrious  and  hope- 
ful under  conditions  which  would  appall  the  majority  of  man- 
kind. 

At  their  best,  they  are   the   stuff  of   which  heroes   and 


An  Appeal  for.  Armenia.  311 

martyrs  are  moulded.  Christians,  believing,  as  we  believe, 
that  God  revealed  Himself  to  the  world  in  Jesus  Christ,  they 
have  held  fast  to  the  teachings  of  our  common  Master  in 
spite  of  disgrace  and  misery,  in  the  face  of  fire  and  sword,  in 
the  agonies  of  torture  and  death.  From  the  middle  of  the 
fifth  century,  when  the  hero  Vartan  and  his  dauntless  com- 
panions died  defending  their  faith  against  the  Persian  Maz- 
deans,*  scarcely  a  year  has  elapsed  in  which  Armenian  men 
and  women  have  not  unhesitatingly  and  unostentatiously  laid 
down  their  lives  for  their  religious  belief. 

Untold  Agonies. 

The  murdered  of  Sassoun,  of  Van,  of  Erzeroum,  were  also 
Christian  martyrs ;  and  any  or  all  of  those  whose  eyes  were 
lately  gouged  out,  whose  limbs  were  wrenched  asunder,  and 
whose  quivering  flesh  was  torn  from  their  bodies,  might  have 
obtained  life  and  comparative  prosperity  by  merely  pronounc- 
ing the  formula  of  Islam  and  abjuring  Christ.  But,  instead 
of  this,  they  commended  their  souls  to  their  Creator,  deliv 
ered  up  their  bodies  to  the  tormentors,  endured  indescribabk 
agonies,  and  died,  like  Christian  martyrs,  defying  Heaven 
itself,  so  to  say,  by  their  boundless  trust  in  God. 

Identity  of  ideals,  aspirations,  and  religious  faith  give  this 
unfortunate  but  heroic  people  strong  claims  on  the  sympathy 
of  the  English  people,  whose  ancestors,  whatever  their  relig- 
ious creed,  never  hesitated  to  die  for  it,  and  when  the  breath 
of  God  swept  over  them,  breasted  the  hurricane  of  persecu- 
tion. 

*Yezdiged  II.,  King  of  Persia,  insisted  on  the  apostasy  of  the  Arme- 
nian people,  whom  he  commanded  to  embrace  the  garbled  doctrines  of 
Zoroaster.  Vartan,  the  chieftain  of  the  race,  gathered  287  members  of 
the  royal  family  around  him,  and  with  a  following  of  749  others,  man- 
fully died  on  the  field  of  battle  after  a  bloody  combat  with  the  Persian 
troops,  on  June  2,  450. 


312  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

But  what  special  claims  to  our  sympathy  are  needed  by 
men  and  women  whom  we  see  treated  by  their  masters  as  the 
damned  were  said  to  be  dealt  with  by  the  devils  in  the  deepest 
of  hell's  abysses?  Our  written  laws  condemn  cruelty  to  a 
horse,  a  dog,  a  cat;  our  innate  sense  of  justice  moves  us  to 
punish  the  man  who  should  wantonly  torture  a  rat,  say,  by 
roasting  it  alive. 

And  shall  it  be  asserted  that  our  instincts  of  justice, 
humanity,  mercy  need  to  be  reinforced  by  extrinsic  considera- 
tions before  we  consent  to  stretch  out  a  helping  hand,  not  to 
a  brute  or  to  a  single  individual,  but  to  tens  of  thousands  of 
honest,  industrious  Christian  men,  pure,  virtuous  women,  and 
innocent  little  children  to  save  them  from  protracted  tortures, 
compared  with  some  of  which  roasting  alive  is  a  swift  and 
merciful  death  ? 

Suffering  not  Relieved. 

Yet  it  is  a  melancholy  fact  that  we  have  not  alleviated  the 
sufferings  of  these  woe -stricken  people  by  a  single  pang,  and 
that  the  succor  which  no  one  of  us,  individually,  would 
dream  of  withholding  from  a  friend,  a  neighbor,  nay,  a  bitter 
enemy  were  he  in  such  straits,  we  all,  as  a  nation,  deny  to  our 
Christian  brethren  who  are  being  bludgeoned,  sawn  in  twain, 
burned  or  thrust  fainting  into  a  gory  grave. 

Why  is  it  that  our  compassion  for  these,  our  fellow-men, 
has  not  yet  assumed  the  form  of  effective  help  ?  For  reasons 
of  "  higher  politics  ;  "  because,  forsooth,  the  Turks  and  Kurds, 
in  whose  soulless  bodies  the  Gadarene  legion  of  unclean 
spirits  would  seem  to  have  taken  up  their  abode,  are  indis- 
pensable to  Christian  civilization — for  the  time  being;  and 
because  the  millions  of  soldiers,  the  deadly  rifles  and  the 
destructive  warships  which  are  accounted  the  most  costly 
possessions  of  contemporary  Europe  cannot  be  spared  in  such 


An  Appeal  fur  Armenia.  313 

a  cause — they  are  wanted  by  the  Christian  nations  to  mow 
each  other  down  with. 

In  a  word,  the  civilization  built  up  on  Christ's  Gospel  can- 
not stand,  or  at  least  cannot  thrive,  without  the  support  of 
Kurdish  cruelty  and  Turkish  thuggery  !  It  may  be  asked,  on 
what  grounds  the  people  of  Great  Britain  ought  to  show 
themselves  more  ready  to  pity,  and  more  eager  to  succor, 
the  Armenians  than  our  Continental  neighbors.  The  question 
differs  little  in  spirit  from  that  which  the  priest  and  the  Levite 
asked  themselves  as  they  passed  the  helpless  man  mentioned 
by  Jesus,  who,  on  his  way  to  Jericho,  had  fallen  among 
thieves,  and  was  left  lying  half-dead. 

Fixing  the  Responsibility. 

But  in  the  present  case  an  answer  is  forthcoming,  an  answer 
which  is  calculated  to  satisfy  the  most  callous  among  us,  and 
transform  us  into  Good  Samaritans,  Briefly,  it  is  this : 
because  we  are  primarily  responsible  for  their  sufferings ; 
because  they  are  the  innocent  victims  of  our  selfish  pursuit  of 
political  interests — which  have  none  the  less  eluded  our  grasp, 
and  left  us  empty-handed,  and  face  to  face  with  the  calamitous 
results  of  our  egotism. 

In  the  first  place,  we  refused  to  recognize  the  Treaty  of  San 
Stefano,  and  to  allow  the  Christian  subjects  of  the  Sultan  to 
owe  the  boon  of  humane  treatment  to  Russia's  policy  or  gen- 
erosity. We  insisted  on  delivering  them  back,  bound  hand 
and  foot,  to  their  rabid  enemies,  undertaking,  however,  to 
undo  their  fetters  later  on.  But  the  "  later  on  "  never  came. 
Oppression,  persecution,  incredible  manifestations  of  savagery, 
characterized  the  dealings  of  the  Turks  with  the  Christians, 
but  we  closed  our  eyes  and  shut  our  ears  until  the  Porte, 
encouraged  by  our  connivance,  organized  the  wholesale 
massacres  of  Sassoun. 


314  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

Then,  for  the  first  time,  we  interfered,  striking  out  a  line  of 
action  which  we  knew  must  prove  disastrous  if  not  completely 
successful,  and  without  first  assuring  ourselves  that  we  could 
and  would  work  it  out  to  a  favorable  issue.  And  the  result 
was  what  was  feared  from  the  first.  We  acted  as  a  surgeon 
might  who,  about  to  perform  a  dangerous  operation,  should 
lay  the  patient  on  the  table,  probe  the  wound,  cut  the  flesh, 
and  just  when  the  last  and  decisive  manipulation  was  needed 
to  save  the  life  of  the  sufferer,  should  turn  away,  and  leave 
him  to  bleed  to  death. 

Punished  only  in  Theory. 

These  are  reasons  why  we,  and  we  more  than  any  other 
people,  are  responsible  for  the  misery  of  the  Armenians. 

The  condition  of  Armenian  Christians  when  we  first  inter- 
fered (1878)  was,  from  a  humane  point  of  view,  deplorable. 
Laws  existed  only  on  paper.  Mohammedan  crimes  were 
punishable  only  in  theory.  Life  and  property  depended  for 
security  solely  on  the  neighborly  feeling  which  custom  and 
community  of  interests  had  gradually  fostered  between  Mos- 
lems and  Christians,  and  which  greed  or  fanaticism  might  at 
any  moment  suddenly  uproot.  Russia  was  willing  to  substi- 
tute law  and  order  for  crime  and  chaos,  and  to  guarantee  to 
Christians  the  treatment  due  to  human  beings. 

But  we  then  denied  her  right  to  do  this,  as  she  refuses  to 
admit  our  claim  to  undertake  it  single-handed.  Our  inter- 
ference was  inspired  by  purely  political  calculations,  unre- 
deemed by  considerations  of  humanity.  About  this  there  is 
now  no  doubt,  nor  was  there  then  any  disguise.  Our  poli- 
tical interests  needed,  or  our  Government  fancied  they 
needed,  the  propping  up  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  when  the 
Turkish  Empire  had  already  become  the  embodiment  of  the 
powers  of  darkness.     And  to  these  fancied  interests  were  sac- 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia,  315 

rificed  the  property,  the  honor,  the  lives  of  the  Armenian 
people. 

But,  not  to  appear  less  generous  or  humane  than  our  north- 
ern rival,  we  solemnly  and  emphatically  promised  to  compel 
the  Porte  to  deal  fairly  with  its  Christian  subjects,  and  we 
undertook  to  see  that  such  reforms  were  introduced  as  would 
enable  Armenians  to  work  without  fear  of  legalized  robbery 
or  lawless  brigandage,  to  marry  without  the  certitude  of  hav- 
ing their  wives  dishonored  and  their  daughters  violated,  and 
to  worship  God  after  the  manner  of  their  fathers  without 
being  liable  to  imprisonment,  torture,  and  death. 

We  said  in  effect :  "  Though  our  political  interests  may 
clash  with  those  of  Russia,  we  will  see  to  it  that  they  are  not 
subversive  of  the  elementary  principles  of  human  justice  and 
the  immutable  law  of  God.  Therefore  we  declare  that  we  are 
actuated  by  the  will  and  possessed  of  the  power  to  induce  or 
compel  the  Porte  to  grant  such  political  and  administrative 
reforms  as  are  essential  to  the  well-being  of  its  Armenian 
subjects." 

This  promise,  and  the  events  that  rendered  it  necessary, 
constitute  the  main  claim  of  the  Armenian  people  in  Turkey 
to  English  sympathy  and  assistance. 

A  Solemn  Promise  not  Kept. 

Yet  we  never  took  any  efficacious  step  to  fulfill  that  solemn 
promise.  We  never  said  or  did  anything  the  effect  of  which 
was  to  assuage  the  sufferings  which  owed  their  continued 
existence  to  our  egotism.  Nay,  more ;  we  allowed  things  to 
drift  from  bad  to  worse,  mismanagement  to  develop  into 
malignity,  oppression  to  merge  in  extermination,  and  for  the 
space  of  seventeen  years  we  deliberately  shut  our  eyes  and 
closed  our  ears  to  the  ghastly  sights  and  lugubrious  sounds 
that  accompanied  the  horrors  of  Turkish  misrule  in  Armenia. 


316 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia, 


Our  consuls  forwarded  exhaustive  reports,  the  Press  pub- 
lished heart-rending  details,  Armenian  ecclesiastics  presented 
piteous  appeals — all  of  them  describing  deeds  more  gruesome 


A   HORRIBLE   SCENE 

and  nefarious  than  those  which  in  patriarchal  days  brought 
down  fire  from  heaven  upon  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  But  we 
"  pigeon-holed  "  the  consular  reports,  pooh-poohed  the  parti- 
culars published  by  the  Press,  or  characterized  them  as  a 
tissue  of  gross  exaggerations,  and  ignored  the  petition  of  the 
priests. 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  317 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  for  a  moment  that  this  breach 
of  faith  was  a  mere  "  political  peccadillo."  It  is  often  impli- 
citly assumed,  and  sometimes  flippantly  affirmed,  that  politics 
postulate  a  code  of  morals  different  from  that  of  private  life. 
Even  if  this  strange  theory  were  true,  it  would  furnish  no 
justification,  no  excuse,  no  pretext  for  this  indefensible  con- 
duct of  a  great  nation  towards  a  poor  and  down-trodden  peo- 
ple. For  the  guiles  and  wiles,  the  subterfuges  and  stratagems 
which  commonly  characterize  the  diplomatic  dealing  of  inde- 
pendent peoples  and  States  are  usually  confined,  even  in  their 
furthest  consequences,  by  the  narrow  limits  of  the  political 
sphere.  They  leave  the  real  weal  and  woe  of  individuals 
practically  untouched. 

Fiends  in  Human  Shape. 

National  prestige,  commercial  advantages,  or,  at  most,  a 
strip  of  territory,  is  all  that  is  at  stake.  But  our  unfortunate 
action  and  inaction  made  themselves  immediately  and  fatally 
felt  in  the  very  homes  and  at  the  firesides  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  Christian  men  and  women,  driving  them  into 
exile,  shutting  them  up  in  noisome  prisons,  and  subjecting 
them  to  every  conceivable  species  of  indignity,  outrage,  and 
death.  We  pressed  a  knob,  as  it  were,  in  London,  and  thereby 
opened  hell's  portals  in  Asia  Minor,  letting  loose  legions  of 
fiends  in  human  shape,  who  set  about  torturing  and  extermi- 
nating the  Christians  there. 

And,  lest  it  should  be  urged  that  our  Government  was 
ignorant  of  the  wide-reaching  effects  of  its  ill-advised  action, 
it  is  on  record  that  for  seventeen  years  it  continued  to  watch 
the  harrowing  results  of  that  action  without  once  interfering 
to  stop  it,  although  at  any  moment  during  that  long  period  of 
persecution  it  could  have  redeemed  its  promise,  and  rescued 
the  Christians  from  their  unbearable  lot. 


318    .  An  Appeal  for  Armenia, 

If  a  detailed  description  were  possible  of  the  horrors  which 
our  exclusive  attention  to  our  own  mistaken  interests  let  loose 
upon  Turkish  Armenians,  there  is  not  a  man  within  the  king- 
dom of  Great  Britain  whose  heart-strings  would  not  be  touched 
and  thrilled  by  the  gruesome  stories  of  which  it  would  be 

composed. 

Robbed  of  Liberty  and  Life. 

During  all  those  seventeen  years  written  law,  traditional 
custom,  the  fundamental  maxims  of  human  and  divine  justice 
were  suspended  in  favor  of  a  Mohammedan  saturnalia.  The 
Christians  by  whose  toil  and  thrift  the  empire  was  held 
together,  were  despoiled,  beggared,  chained,  beaten  and 
banished  or  butchered.  First  their  movable  wealth  was 
seized,  then  their  landed  property  was  confiscated,  next  the 
absolute  necessaries  of  life  were  wrested  from  them,  and 
finally  honor,  liberty,  and  life  were  taken  with  as  little  ado  as 
if  these  Christian  men  and  women  were  wasps  or  mosquitoes. 

Thousands  of  Armenians  were  thrown  into  prison  by 
governors  like  Tahsin  Pasha  and  Bahri  Pasha,  and  tortured 
and  terrorized  till  they  delivered  up  the  savings  of  a  lifetime, 
and  the  support  of  their  helpless  families,  to  ruffianly  parasites. 
Whole  villages  were  attacked  in  broad  daylight  by  the 
Imperial  Kurdish  cavalry  without  pretext  or  warning,  the  male 
inhabitants  turned  adrift  or  killed,  and  their  wives  and  daugh- 
ers  transformed  into  instruments  to  glut  the  foul  lusts  of  these 
bestial  murderers.  In  a  few  years  the  provinces  were  deci- 
mated, Aloghkerd,  for  instance,  being  almost  entirely 
"  purged  "  of  Armenians. 

Over  20,000  woe-stricken  wretches,  once  healthy  and  well-- 
to-do,  fled  to  Russia  or  to  Persia  in  rags  and  misery,  deformed, 
diseased,  or  dying ;  on  the  way  they  were  seized  over  and 
over  again  by  the  soldiers  of  the  Sultan,  who  deprived  them 
of  the  little  money  they  possessed,  nay,  of  the  clothes  they 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  319 

were  wearing,  outraged  the  married  women  in  presence  of 
their  sons  and  daughters,  deflowered  the  tender  girls  before 
the  eyes  of  their  mothers  and  brothers,  and  then  drove  them 
over  the  frontier  to  hunger  and  die.  Those  who  remained  for 
a  time  behind  were  no  better  off.  Kurdish  brigands  lifted  the 
last  cows  and  goats  of  the  peasants,  carried  away  their  carpets 
and   their  valuables,  raped  their  daughters,  and  dishonored 

their  wives. 

Cruelty  and  Torture. 

Turkish  tax-gatherers  followed  these,  gleaning  what  the 
brigands  had  left,  and,  lest  anything  should  escape  their 
avarice,  bound  the  men,  flogged  them  till  their  bodies  were  a 
bloody,  mangled  mass,  cicatrized  the  wounds  with  red  hot 
ramrods,  plucked  out  their  beards  hair  by  hair,  tore  the  flesh 
from  their  limbs  with  pincers,  and  often  even  then,  dissatisfied 
with  the  financial  results  of  their  exertions,  hung  the  men 
whom  they  had  thus  beggared  and  maltreated  fi-om  the  rafters 
of  the  room  and  kept  them  there  to  witness,  with  burning 
shame,  impotent  rage,  and  incipient  madness,  the  dishonoring 
of  their  wives  and  the  deflowering  of  their  daughters,  some  of 
whom  died  miserably  during  the  hellish  outrage. 

Stories  of  this  kind  in  connection  with  Turkish  misrule  in 
Armenia  have  grown  familiar  to  English  ears  of  late,  and  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  people  are  now  so  much  accustomed  to  them 
that  they  have  lost  the  power  of  conveying  corresponding 
definite  impressions  to  the  mind.     The  more  is  the  pity. 

It  is  only  meet  that  we  should  make  some  eflbrt  to  realize 
the  sufferings  which  we  have  brought  down  upon  inoffensive 
men  and  women,  and  to  understand  somewhat  of  the  shame, 
the  terror,  the  despair  that  must  take  possession  of  the  souls 
of  Christians  whose  lives  are  a  martyrdom  of  such  unchroni- 
cled  agonies,  during  which  no  ray  of  the  life-giving  light  that 
plays  about  the  throne  of  God  ever  pierces  the  mist  of  blood 


320  An  Appeal  for  Armenia, 

and  tears  that  rises  between  the  blue  of  heaven  and  the  ever- 
lasting grey  of  the  charnel-house  called  Armenia. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  these  statements  are  neither 
rumors  nor  exaggerations  concerning  which  we  are  justified 
in  suspending  our  judgment.  History  has  set  its  seal  upon 
them ;  diplomacy  has  slowly  verified  and  reluctantly  recog- 
nized them  as  established  facts,  and  religion  and  humanity  are  I 
now  called  upon  to  place  their  emphatic  protest  against  them 
on  record. 

They  Glory  in  their  Shame 

The  Turks,  in  their  confidential  moods,  have  admitted  these 
and  worse  acts  of  savagery ;  the  Kurds  glory  in  them  at  all 
times ;  trustworthy  Europeans  have  witnessed  and  described 
them,  and  Armenians  groaned  over  them  in  blank  despair. 
Officers  and  nobles  in  the  Sultan's  own  cavalry  regiments, 
like  Mostigo  the  Kurd,  bruit  abroad,  with  unpardonable  pride, 
the  story  of  the  long  series  of  rapes  and  murders  which 
marked  their  official  careers,  and  laugh  to  scorn  the  notion  of 
being  punished  for  robbing  and  killing  the  Armenians,  whom 
the  Sublime  Porte  desires-  them  to  exterminate.  Nay,  it  was 
the  Armenians  themselves  who  were  punished  if  they  com- 
plained when  their  own  relatives  or  friends  were  murdered. 
And  they  were  punished,  either  on  the  charge  of  having 
cruelly  done  their  own  parents,  sisters,  children  to  death,  or 
else  on  suspicion  of  having  killed  the  murderers,  who,  how- 
ever, were  always  found  afterwards  living  and  thriving  in  the 
Sultan' s employ ,  and  were  never  disturbed  there.  Three  hundred 
and  six  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  the  district  of  Khnouss, 
in  a  piteous  appeal  to  the  people  of  England,  wrote : 

"Year  by  year,  month  by  month,  day  by  day,  innocent 
men,  women  and  children  have  been  shot  down,  stabbed  or 
clubbed  to  death,  in  their  houses  and  their  fields,  tortured  in 
strange  fiendish  ways  in  fetid  prison  gells,  or  left  to  rot  in 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  321 

exile  under  the  scorching  sun  of  Arabia.  During  that  long 
and  horrible  tragedy  no  voice  was  raised  for  mercy,  no  hand 
extended  to  help  us.  .  .  .  Is  European  sympathy  destined  to 
take  the  form  of  a  cross  on  our  graves  ?  " 

Now  the  answer  has  been  given.  These  ill-starred  men 
might  now  know  that  European  sympathy  has  taken  a 
different  form — that  of  a  marine  guard  before  the  Sultan's 
palace  to  shield  him  and  his  from  harm  from  without  while 
they  proceed  with  their  orgies  of  blood  and  lust  within. 
These  simple  men  of  Khnouss  might  now  know  and  wonder 
at  this — if  they  were  still  among  the  living ;  but  most  of  them 
have  been  butchered  since  then,  like  the  relatives  and  friends 
whose  lot  they  lamented  and  yet  envied. 

Crowded  Dungeons. 

In  accordance  with  the  plan  of  extermination,  which  has 
been  carried  out  with  such  signal  success  during  these  long 
years  of  Turkish  vigor  and  English  sluggishness,  all  those 
Armenians  who  possessed  money  or  money's  worth  were  for 
a  time  allowed  to  purchase  immunity  from  prison,  and  from 
all  that  prison  life  in  Asia  Minor  implies.  But  as  soon  as 
terror  and  summary  confiscation  took  the  place  of  slow  and 
elaborate  extortion,  the  gloomy  dungeons  of  Erzeroum, 
Erzinghan,  Marsovan,  Hassankaleh,  and  Van  were  filled,  till 
there  was  no  place  to  sit  down,  a7id  scarcely  sufficient  standing 
room. 

And  this  means  more  than  English  people  can  realize,  or 
any  person  believe  who  has  not  actually  witnessed  it.  It 
would  have  been  a  torture  for  Turkish  troopers  and  Kurdish 
brigands,  but  it  was  worse  than  death  to  the  educated  school- 
masters, missionaries,  priests  and  physicians,  who  were  im- 
mured in  these  noisome  hotbeds  of  infection,  and  forced  to 
sleep  night  after  night  standing  on  their  feet,  leaning  against; 


322       ,  An  Appeal  for  Armenia, 

the  foul,  reeking  corner  of  the  wall  which  all  the  prisoners 
were  compelled  to  occupy  alike.  The  very  worst  class  of 
Tartar  and  Kurdish  criminals  were  turned  in  here  to  make 
these  hell-chambers  more  unbearable  to  the  Christians. 

And  the  experiment  was  everywhere  successful.  Human 
hatred  and  diabolical  spite,  combined  with  the  most  disgust- 
ing sights  and  sounds  and  stenches,  with  their  gnawing  hun- 
ger and  their  putrid  food,  their  parching  thirst  and  the  slimy 
water,  fit  only  for  sewers,  rendered  their  agony  maddening. 
Yet  these  were  not  criminals  nor  alleged  criminals,  but 
upright  Christian  men,  who  were  never  even  accused  of  an 
infraction  of  the  law.  No  man  who  has  not  seen  these  pris- 
ons with  his  own  eyes,  and  heard  these  prisoners  with  his 
own  ears,  can  be  expected  to  conceive,  much  less  realize,  the 
sufferings  inflicted  and  endured. 

Scene  of  Horrors. 

The  loathsome  diseases,  whose  terrible  ravages  were  freely 
displayed ;  the  still  more  loathsome  vices,  which  were  contin- 
ually and  openly  practiced  ;  the  horrible  blasphemies,  revolt- 
ing obscenities  and  ribald  jests  which  alternated  with  cries  of 
pain,  songs  of  vice,  and  prayers  to  the  unseen  God,  made 
these  prisons,  in  some  respects,  nearly  as  bad  as  the  Black 
Hole  of  Calcutta,  and  in  others  infinitely  worse.  In  one  cor- 
ner of  this  foul  fever -nest  a  man  might  be  heard  moaning  and 
groaning  with  the  pain  of  a  shattered  arm  or  leg  ;  in  another, 
a  youth  is  convulsed  with  the  death  spasms  of  cholera  or  poi- 
son; in  the  centre,  a  knot  of  Turks,  whose  dull  eyes  are  fired 
with  bestial  lust,  surround  a  Christian  boy,  who  pleads  for 
mercy  with  heart-harrowing  voice  while  the  human  fiends 
actually  outrage  him  to  death. 

Into  these  prisons  venerable  old  ministers  of  religion  were 
dragged   from  their   churches,  teachers  from  their  schools, 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  323 

missionaries  from  their  meeting-houses,  merchants,  physi- 
cians, and  peasants  from  their  fire-sides.  Those  among  them 
who  refused  to  denounce  their  friends,  or  consent  to  some 
atrocious  crime,  were  subjected  to  horrible  agonies.  Many  a 
one,  for  instance,  was  put  into  a  sentry-box  bristHng  with 
sharp  spikes,  and  forced  to  stand  there  motionless,  without 
food  or  drink,  for  twenty-four  and  even  thirty-six  hours,  was 
revived  with  stripes  whenever  he  fell  fainting  to  the  prickly 
floor,  and  was  carried  out  unconscious  at  the  end. 

It  was  thus  that  hundreds  of  Armenian  Christians,  whose 
names  and  histories  are  on  record,  suffered  for  refusing  to 
sign  addresses  to  the  Sultan  accusing  their  neighbors  and 
relatives  of  high  treason.  It  was  thus  that  Azo  was  treated 
hy  his  judges,  the  Turkish  officials,  Talib  Effendi,  Captain 
Reshid,  and  Captain  Hadji  Fehim  Agha,  for  declining  tc 
swear  away  the  lives  of  the  best  men  of  his  village.  A  whole 
night  was  spent  in  torturing  him.  He  was  first  bastinadoed 
in  a  room  close  to  which  his  female  relatives  and  friends  were 
shut  up  so  that  they  could  hear  his  cries. 

A  Living  Cross. 

Then  he  was  stripped  naked,  and  two  poles,  extending  from 
his  arm-pits  to  his  feet,  were  placed  on  either  side  of  his  body 
and  tied  tightly.  His  arms  were  next  stretched  out  horizon- 
tally and  poles  arranged  to  support  his  hands.  This  living 
cross  was  then  bound  to  a  pillar,  and  the  flogging  began. 
The  whips  left  livid  traces  behind.  The  wretched  man  was 
unable  to  make  the  slightest  movement  to  ease  his  pain. 
His  features  alone,  hideously  distorted,  revealed  the  anguish 
he  endured.  The  louder  he  cried,  the  more  heavily  fell  the 
whip. 

Over  and  over  again  he  entreated  his  tormentors  to  put 
him  out  of  pain,  saying :  "  If  you  want  my  death,  kill  me  with 


324  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

a  bullet,  but  for  God's  sake  don't  torture  me  like  this ! "  His 
head  alone  being  free  he,  at  last,  maddened  by  excruciating 
pain,  endeavored  to  dash  out  his  brains  against  the  pillar, 
hoping  in  this  way  to  end  his  agony.  But  this  consumma- 
tion was  hindered  by  the  police.  They  questioned  him 
again  ;  but  in  spite  of  his  condition,  Azo  replied  as  before  :  "  I 
cannot  defile  my  soul  with  the  blood  of  innocent  people.  I 
am  a  Christian."  Enraged  at  this  obstinacy,  Talib  Effendi, 
the  Turkish  official,  ordered  the  application  of  other  and 
more  effective  tortures. 

Roars  of  Infernal  Laughter. 

Pincers  were  fetched  to  pull  out  his  teeth;  but  Azo,  remain- 
ing firm,  this  method  was  not  long  persisted  in.  Then  Talib 
commanded  his  servants  to  pluck  out  the  prisoner's  mous- 
tachios  by  the  roots,  one  hair  at  a  time.  This  order  the 
gendarmes  executed,  with  roars  of  infernal  laughter.  But 
this  treatment  proving  equally  ineffectual,  Talib  instructed  his 
men  to  cauterize  the  unfortunate  victim's  body.  A  spit  was 
heated  in  the  fire.  Azo's  arms  were  freed  from  their  supports, 
and  two  brawny  policemen  approached,  one  on  each  side,  and 
seized  him.  Meanwhile  another  gendarme  held  to  the  middle 
of  the  wretched  man's  hands  the  glowing  spit.  While  his 
flesh  was  thus  burning,  the  victim  shouted  out  in  agony,  "  For 
the  love  of  God  kill  me  at  once !  " 

Then  the  executioners  removing  the  red-hot  spit  from  his 
hands,  applied  it  to  his  breast,  then  to  his  back,  his  face,  his 
feet,  and  other  parts.  After  this,  they  forced  open  his  mouth, 
and  burned  his  tongue  with  red-hot  pincers.  During  these 
inhuman  operations,  Azo  fainted  three  several  times,  but  on 
recovering  consciousness  maintained  the  same  inflexibility  of 
purpose. 

Meanwhile,  in  the  adjoining  apartment,  a  heartrending  scenq 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  325 

was  bemg  enacted.  The  women  and  the  children,  terrified  by 
the  groans  and  cries  of  the  tortured  man,  fainted.  When  they 
revived,  they  endeavored  to  rush  out  to  call  for  help,  but  the 
gendarmes,  stationed  at  the  door,  barred  their  passage,  and 
brutally  pushed  them  back.* 

Bribed  or  Poisoned. 

Nights  were  passed  in  such  hellish  orgies  and  days  in 
inventing  new  tortures  or  refining  upon  the  old,  with  an  ingen^ 
uity  which  reveals  unimagined  strata  of  malignity  in  the 
human  heart.  The  results  throw  the  most  sickening  horrors 
of  the  Middle  Ages  into  the  shade.  Some  of  them  cannot  be 
described,  nor  even  hinted  at.  The  shock  to  people's  sensibili- 
ties would  be  too  terrible.  And  yet  they  were  not  merely 
described  to,  but  endured  by,  men  of  education  and  refine- 
ment, whose  sensibilities  were  as  delicate  as  ours. 

And  when  the  prisons  in  which  these  and  analogous  doings 
were  carried  on  had  no  more  room  for  new-comers,  some  of 
the  least  obnoxious  of  its  actual  inmates  were  released  for  a 
bribe,  or,  in  case  of  poverty,  were  expeditiously  poisoned  off 

In  the  homes  of  these  wretched  people  the  fiendish  fanatics 
were  equally  active  and  equally  successful.  Family  life  was 
poisoned  at  its  very  source.  Rape  and  dishonor,  with  name- 
less accompaniments,  menaced  almost  every  girl  and  woman 
in  the  country.  They  could  not  stir  out  of  their  houses  in 
the  broad  daylight  to  visit  the  bazaars,  or  to  work  in  the 
fields,  nor  even  lie  down  at  night  in  their  own  homes  without 
fearing  the  fall  of  that  Damocles'  sword  ever  suspended  over 
their  heads. 

*  The  above  description  is  taken  literally  from  a  report  of  the  British 
Vice-Consul  of  Erzeroum.  Copies  are  in  possession  of  the  diplomatic 
representatives  of  the  Powers  at  Constantinople.  The  scene  occurred  in 
the  village  of  Semal  before  the  massacres,  during  the  normal  condition 
«f  things. 


326  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

Tender  youth,  childhood  itself,  was  no  guarantee.  Child- 
ren were  often  married  at  the  age  of  eleven,  even  at  ten,  in 
the  vain  hope  of  lessening  this  danger.  But  the  protection  of 
a  husband  proved  unavailing ;  it  merely  meant  one  murder 
more,  and  one  "  Christian  dog  "  less.  A  bride  would  be  mar- 
ried in  church  yesterday,  and  her  body  would  be  devoured  by 
the  beasts  and  birds  of  prey  to-morrow — a  band  of  ruffians, 
often  officials,  having  within  the  intervening  forty-eight  hours 
seized  her  and  outraged  her  to  death. 

Others  would  be  abducted,  and,  having  for  weeks  been 
subjected  to  the  loathsome  lusts  of  lawless  Kurds,  would  end 
by  abjuring  their  God  and  embracing  Islam;  not  from  any 
vulgar  motive  of  gain,  but  to  escape  the  burning  shame  of 
returning  home  as  pariahs  and  lepers  to  be  shunned  by  those 
near  and  dear  to  them  forever.  Little  girls  of  five  and  six 
were  frequently  forced  to  be  present  during  these  horrible 
scenes  of  lust,  and,  they,  too,  were  often  sacrificed  before  the 
eyes  of  their  mothers,  who  would  have  gladly,  madly  accepted 
death,  ay,  and  damnation,  to  save  their  tender  offspring  from 
the  corroding  poison. 

Pate  of  a  Young  Woman. 

One  of  the  abducted  young  women  who,  having  been  out- 
raged by  the  son  of  the  Deputy-Governor  of  Khnouss, 
Hussni  Bey,  returned,  a  pariah,  and  is  now  alone  in  the  world, 
lately  appealed  to  her  English  sisters  for  such  aid  as  a  heathen 
would  give  to  a  brute,  and  she  besought  it  in  the  name  of  our 
common  God.  Lucine  Mussegh — this  is  the  name  of  that 
outraged  young  woman  whose  Protestant  education  gave  her, 
as  she  thought,  a  special  claim  to  act  as  the  spokeswoman  of 
Armenian  mothers  and  daughters — Lucine  Mussegh  besought, 
last  March,  the  women  of  England  to  obtain  for  the  women 
of  Armenia  the  privilege  of  living  a  pure  and  chaste  life ! 


An  Appeal  for  Arfnenia,  327 

This  was  the  boon  which  she  craved — but  did  not,  could 
not,  obtain.  The  interests  of  "  higher  politics,"  the  civilizing 
missions  of  the  Christian  Powers  are,  it  seems,  incompatible 
with  it !  "  For  the  love  of  the  God  whom  we  worship  in 
common,"  wrote  this  outraged,  but  still  hopeful,  Armenian 
lady,  "  help  us,  Christian  sisters !  Help  us  before  it  is  too 
late,  and  take  the  thanks  of  the  mothers,  the  wives,  the 
sisters,  and  the  daughters  of  my  people,  and  with  them  the 
gratitude  of  one  for  whom,  in  spite  of  her  youth,  death  would 
come  as  a  happy  release." 

Neither  the  Christian  sisters  nor  the  Christian  brethren  in 
England  have  seen  their  way  to  comply  with  this  strange 
req-uest.  But  it  may  perhaps  interest  Lucine  Mussegh  to 
learn  that  the  six  Great  Powers  of  Europe  are  quite  unani- 
mous, and  are  manfully  resolved,  come  what  will,  to  shield  his 
Majesty  the  Sultan  from  harm,  to  support  his  rule,  and  to 
guarantee  his  kingdom  from  disintegration.  These  are 
objects  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  Great  Powers ;  as  for 
the  privilege  of  leading  pure  and  chaste  lives — they  cannot  be 
importuned  about  such  private  matters. 

What  astonishes  one  throughout  this  long,  sickening  story 
of  shame  and  crime  is  the  religious  faith  of  the  sufferers.  It 
envelops  them  like  a  Nessus'  shirt,  aggravating  their  agonies 
by  the  fear  it  inspires  that  they  must  have  offended  in  some 
inexplicable  way  the  omnipotent  God  who  created  them. 
What  is  not  at  all  wonderful,  but  only  symptomatic,  is  the 
mood  of  one  of  the  women,  who,  having  prayed  to  God  in 
heaven,  discovered  no  signs  of  His  guiding  hand  upon  earth, 
and  whose  husband  was  killed  in  presence  of  her  daughter, 
after  which  each  of  the  two  terrified  females  was  outraged  by 
the  band  of  ruffians  in  turn. 

When  gazing,  a  few  days  later,  on  the  lifeless  corpse  of  that 
beloved  child  whom  she  had  vainly  endeavored  to  save,  that 


328  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

wretched,  heart-broken  mother,  wrung  to  frenzy  by  her  soul- 
searing  anguish,  accounted  to  her  neighbors  for  the  horrors 
that  were  spread  over  her  people  and  her  country  by  the 
startling  theory  that  God  Himself  had  gone  mad,  and  that 
maniacs  and  demons  incarnate  were  stalking  about  the  world  ! 
Such,  in  broad  outline,  has  been  the  normal  condition  of 
Armenia  ever  since  the  Treaty  of  Berlin,  owing  at  first  to  the 
disastrous  action  and  subsequently  to  the  equally  disastrous 
inaction  of  the  British  Government.  The  above  sketch  con- 
tains but  a  few  isolated  instances  of  the  daily  common-places 
of  the  life  of  Armenian  Christians.  When  these  have  been 
multiplied  by  thousands  and  the  colors  duly  heightened,  a 
more  or  less  adequate  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  hideous 

reality. 

Ideas  of  Justice  Perverted. 

Now,  during  all  those  seventeen  years,  we  took  no  serious 
step  to  put  an  end  to  the  brigandage,  rapes,  tortures,  and 
murders  which  all  Christendom  agreed  with  us  in  regarding 
as  the  normal  state  of  things.  No  one  deemed  it  his  duty  to 
insist  on  the  punishment  of  the  professional  butchers  and 
demoralizers,  who  founded  their  claims  to  preferment  upon 
the  maintenance  of  this  inhuman  system,  and  had  their  claims 
allowed,  for  the  Sultan,  whose  intelligence  and  humanity  it 
was  the  fashion  to  eulogize  and  admire,  decorated  and 
rewarded  these  faithful  servants,  making  them  participators  in 
the  joy  of  their  lord. 

Indeed,  the  utter  perversion  of  the  ideas  of  justice  and 
humanity  which  characterized  the  views  of  European  Chris- 
tendom during  the  long  period  of  oppression  and  demoraliza- 
tion has  at  last  reached  such  a  pitch  that  the  Powers  have 
agreed  to  give  the  Sultan  a  "  reasonable  "  time  to  re-establish 
once  more  the  normal  state  of  things. 

The  Turks,  encouraged  by  the  seventeen  years'  connivance 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia. .  320 

of  the  only  Power  which  possessed  any  formal  right  to  inter- 
vene in  favor  of  the  Armenians,  and  confident  that  the  British 
nation  was  a  consenting  party  to  the  policy  of  sheer  extermi- 
nation which  was  openly  proclaimed  again  and  again,  organized 
a  wholesale  massacre  of  the  Christians  of  Sassoun. 

"  Systematic  Turkeries." 

The  particular  reason  for  this  sweeping  measure  lay  in  the 
circumstance  that  the  Armenian  population  in  that  part  of 
the  country  consisted  of  the  hardiest,  bravest  and  most  reso- 
lute representatives  of  the  race,  and  that  their  proportion  to 
the  Mohammedans  there  was  more  than  twice  greater  than 
elsewhere.  The  systematic  Turkeries,  which  had  impover- 
ished and  depopulated  the  other  less  favored  districts,  were 
consequently  of  little  avail  in  Sassoun ;  therefore,  a  purgative 
measure  on  a  grandiose  scale  was  carefully  prepared,  for  a 
whole  year  before,  by  Imperial  officials,  whose  services  the 
Sultan  has  since  nobly  requited. 

The  preparations  were  elaborate  and  open.  The  project 
was  known  to  and  canvassed  by  all.  A  long  report  was 
addressed  by  the  Abbot  of  Moush,  Kharakhanian,  to  the 
British  representative  at  Erzeroum,  informing  him  of  this 
inhuman  plan,  proving  its  real  existence,  and  appealing  to 
the  people  of  England  to  save  their  Christian  brethren. 

But  international  comity  forbade  us  to  meddle  with  the 
"  domestic  affairs  of  a  friendly  Power,"  and  the  massacre  took 
place  as  advertised.  Momentary  glimpses  of  the  blood- 
curdling scenes,  as  described  by  Turkish,  Kurdish  and  Arme- 
nian eye-witnesses,  have  since  been  vouchsafed  us;  not  by 
the  Government,  which  "  pigeon-holed "  the  reports  of  its 
consuls,  but  by  the  Press.  And  in  these  dissolving  views  we 
behold  long  processions  of  misery-stricken  men  and  women, 
bearing  witness  to  the  light  invisible  to  them,  as  they  move 


330  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

onward  to  midnight  martyrdom  amid  the  howls  of  their  frantic 
torturers. 

The  rivulets  were  choked  up  with  corpses ;  the  streams  ran 
red  with  human  blood ;  the  forest  glades  and  rocky  caves 
were  peopled  with  the  dead  and  the  dying ;  among  the  black 
ruins  of  once  prosperous  villages  lay  roasted  infants  by  their 
mangled  mothers'  corpses  ;  pits  were  dug  at  night  by  the 
wretches  destined  to  fill  them,  many  of  whom,  flung  in  while 
but  lightly  wounded,  awoke  underneath  a  mountain  of  clammy 
corpses,  and  vainly  wrestled  with  death  and  with  the  dead, 
who  shut  them  out  from  light  and  life  forever. 

He  Did  his  Best. 

It  was  then  that  our  present  Ambassador  at  Constantinople 
took  action,  and  displayed  those  remarkable  gifts  of  energy 
and  industry  to  which  the  Prime  Minister  lately  alluded  with 
pride.  It  was  owing  to  his  enlightened  initiative  and  inde- 
fatigable perseverance  that  the  unfortunate  Armenians . 

But  what,  ask  the  Armenians,  have  we  to  feel  grateful  for  ? 
What  act  of  clemency,  what  deed  of  humanity,  do  we  owe  to 
British  intervention  ? 

The  BritisJi  Ambassador,  however,  did  his  best.  He  prose- 
cuted inquiries,  studied  reports,  made  energetic  representa- 
tions to  the  Sultan,  and  at  last  carried  the  appointment  of  a 
Commission  of  Investigation.  An  excellent  result,  apparently, 
and  the  beginning  of  much  else.  Yes,  but  on  one  condition — 
viz.:  that  the  British  Government,  before  beginning  this 
arduous  work,  saw  its  way  to  bring  it  to  a  successful  issue, 
and,  having  irritated  the  Turks  and  Kurds  to  fury  against  the 
Armenians  by  this  foreign  intervention,  were  resolved  not  to 
abandon  the  Christians  to  the  mercies  of  the  Mohammedans 
without  foreign  protection. 

Otherwise  it  was  only  too  clear  that  our  tardy  action  would 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  331 

turn  out  to  be  a  piece  of  inexcusable  inhumanity.  This  view 
was  expressed  and  maintained  at  the  time  by  some  of  the 
leading  organs  of  our  Press.  But  the  Government  went  its 
way  unheeding.  Yet,  while  the  Commission  of  Inquiry  was 
still  sitting  at  Moush,  the  deeds  of  atrocious  cruelty  which 
it  was  assembled  to  investigate  were  outdone  under  the  eyes 
of  the  delegates.  Threats  were  openly  uttered  that,  on  their 
withdrawal,  massacres  would  be  organized  all  over  the  coun- 
try— massacres,  it  was  said,  in  comparison  with  which  the 
Sassoun  butchery  would  compare  but  as  dust  in  the  balance. 
And  elaborate  preparations  were  made — aye,  openly  made,  in 
the  presence  of  consuls  and  delegates — for  the  perpetration 
of  these  v/holesale  murders  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  warnings  and 
appeals  published  in  England,  nothing  was  done  to  prevent 

them.  

Wholesale  Destruction  of  Life. 

In  due  time  they  began.  Over  60,000  Armenians  have 
been  butchered,  and  the  massacres  are  not  quite  ended  yet. 
In  Trebizond,  Erzeroum,  Erzinghan,  Hassankaleh,  and  num- 
berless other  places  the  Christians  were  crushed  like  grapes 
during  the  vintage.  The  frantic  mob,  seething  and  surging 
in  the  streets  of  the  cities,  swept  down  upon  the  defenceless 
Armenians,  plundered  their  shops,  gutted  their  houses,  then 
joked  and  jested  with  the  terrified  victims,  as  cats  play  with 
mice. 

As  rapid  whirling  motion  produces  apparent  rest,  so  the 
wild  frenzy  of  those  fierce  fanatical  crowds  resulted  in  a  con- 
dition of  seeming  calmness,  composure  and  gentleness  which, 
taken  .  in  connection  with  the  unutterable  brutality  of  their 
acts,  was  of  a  nature  to  freeze  men's  blood  with  horror.  In 
many  cases  they  almost  caressed  their  victims,  and  actually 
encouraged  them  to  hope,  while  preparing  the  instruments  of 
slaughter. 


332  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

The  French  mob  during  the  Terror  were  men — nay,  angels 
of  mercy — compared  with  these  Turks.  Those  were  not 
insensible  to  compassion;  in  these  every  instinct  of  humanity 
seemed  atrophied  or  dead.  In  Trebizond,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  massacre,  an  Armenian  was  coming  out  of  a  baker's  shop, 
where  he  had  been  purchasing  bread  for  his  sick  wife  and 
family,  when  he  was  surprised  by  the  raging  crowd.  Fasci- 
nated with  terror,  he  stood  still,  was  seized,  and  dashed  to  the 
ground. 

He  pleaded  piteously  for  mercy  and  pardon,  and  they 
quietly  promised  it ;  and  so  grim  and  dry  was  the  humor  of 
this  crowd  that  the  trembling  wretch  took  their  promise 
seriously  and  offered  them  his  heartfelt  thanks.  In  truth 
they  were  only  joking.  When  they  were  ready  to  be  serious 
they  tied  the  man's  feet  together,  and  taunted  him,  but  at  first 
with  the  assumed  gentleness  that  might  well  be  mistaken  for 
the  h"',rbinger  of  mercy. 

Bloodcurdling  Barbarities. 

Then  they  cut  off  one  of  his  hands,  slapped  his  face  with 
the  bloody  wrist,  and  placed  it  between  his  quivering  lips. 
Soon  afterwards  they  chopped  off  the  other  hand,  and  inquired 
whether  he  would  like  pen  and  paper  to  write  to  his  wife. 
Others  requested  him  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  with  his 
stumps,  or  with  his  feet,  while  he  still  possessed  them,  while 
others  desired  him  to  shout  louder  that  his  God  might  hear 

•his  cries  for  help.     One  of  the  most  active  members  of  the 
crowd  then  stepped  forward  and  tore  the  man's  ears  from  his 

^head,  after  which  he  put  them  between  his  lips,  and  then  flung 
them  in  his  face. 

"  That  Effendi's  mouth  deserves  to  be  punished  for  refusing 
such  a  choice  morsel,"  exclaimed  a  voice  in  the  crowd,  where- 
upon somebody  stepped  forward,  knocked  out  some  of  his 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  333 

teeth,  and  proceeded  to  cut  out  his  tongue.  "  He  will  never 
blaspheme  again,"  a  pious  Moslem  jocosely  remarked.  There- 
upon a  dagger  was  placed  under  one  of  his  eyes,  which  was 
scooped  clean  out  of  its  socket. 

The  hideous  contortions  of  the  man's  discolored  face,  the 
quick  convulsions  of  his  quivering  body,  and  the  sight  of  the 
ebbing  blood  turning  the  dry  dust  to  gory  mud,  literally  in- 
toxicated these  furious  fanatics,  who,  having  gouged  out  his 
other  eye  and  chopped  off  his  feet,  hit  upon  some  other  excru- 
ciating tortures  before  cutting  his  throat  and  sending  his  soul 
"  to  damnation,"  as  they  expressed  it.  These  other  ngenious 
pain-sharpening  devices,  however,  were  such  as  do  not  lend 
themselves  to  description. 

In  Erzeroum,  where  a  large  tract  of  country,  from  the  lofty 
mountains  of  Devi  Boyen  to  the  Black  Sea  shore,  has  just 
been  laid  waste  and  completely  purged  of  Armenians,  similar 
scenes  were  enacted.  The  vilayet  of  Van,  the  town  of  Has- 
sankaleh,  and  numerous  other  places  have  been  deluged  with 
blood,  and  polluted  with  unbridled  lust.  A  man  in  Erzeroum, 
hearing  the  tumult,  and  fearing  for  his  children,  who  were 
playing  in  the  street,  went  out  to  seek  and  save  them.  He 
was  borne  down  upon  by  the  mob. 

He  pleaded  for  his  life,  protesting  that  he  had  always  lived 
in  peace  with  his  Moslem  neighbors,  and  sincerely  loved 
them.  The  statement  may  have  represented  a  fact,  or  it  may 
have  been  but  a  plea  for  pity.  The  ringleader,  however,  told 
him  that  that  was  the  proper  spirit,  and  would  be  condignly 
rewarded.  The  man-  was  then  stripped,  and  a  chunk  of  his 
flesh  cut  out  of  his  body,  and  jestingly  offered  for  sale  : 
"  Good  fresh  meat  and  dirt  cheap,"  exclaimed  some  of  the 
crowd.  "Who'll  buy  fine  dog's  meat?"  echoed  the  amused 
bystanders. 

The  writhing  wretch  uttered  piercing  screams  as  some  of 


334  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

the  mob,  who  had  just  come  from  rifling  the  shops,  opened 

a  bottle,  and  poured  vinegar  or  some  acid  into  the  gaping 

wound.     He  called  on  God  and  man  to  end  his  agonies.     But 

they  had  only  begun.     Soon  afterwards,  two  little  boys  came 

up,  the  elder  crying,  "  Hairik,  Hairik*  save  me  !     See  what 

they've  done  to  me !  "  and  pointed  to  his  head,  from  which  the 

blood  was  streaming  over  his  handsome  face,  and  down  his 

neck.     The  younger  brother — a  child  of  about   three — was 

playing  with   a  wooden  toy.     The  agonized  man  was  silent 

for  a  second  and  then,  glancing  at  these,  his  children,  made  a 

frantic  but  vain  effort  to  snatch  a  dagger  from  a  Turk  by  his 

side. 

Slash  of  a  Sabre. 

This  was  the  signal  for  the  renewal  of  his  torments.  The 
bleeding  boy  was  finally  dashed  with  violence  against  the 
dying  father,  who  began  to  lose  strength  and  consciousness 
and  the  two  were  then  pounded  to  death  where  they  lay.  The 
younger  child  sat  near,  dabbling  his  wooden  toy  in  the  blooJ 
of  his  father  and  brother,  and  looking  up,  now  through  smilei 
at  the  prettily-dressed  Kurds,  and  now  through  tears  at  the 
dust-begrimed  thing  that  had  lately  been  his  father.  A  slash 
of  a  sabre  wound  up  his  short  experience  of  God's  world,  and 
the  crowd  turned  its  attention  to  others. 

These  are  but  isolated  scenes  revealed  for  a  brief  second  by 
the  light,  as  it  were,  of  a  momentary  lightning  flash.  The 
worst  cannot  be  described.  And,  if  it  could  be,  no  descrip- 
tion, however  vivid,  would  convey  a  true  notion  of  the  dread 
reality.  At  most  of  these  manifestations  of  bestial  passion 
and  delirium  the  Sultan's  troops,  in  uniform,  stood  by  as 
delighted  spectators  when  they  did  not  actually  take  an  active 
part  as  zealous  executioners. 

And  these  are  the  Turks,  whom   unanimous   Europe  has 

*  Father,  father. 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  335 

judged  worthy  of  continuing  to  govern  and  guide  the  Chris- 
tians of  Asia  Minor.  True,  the  Powers  have  courteously 
signified  their  desire,  and  the  Sultan  has  graciously  pledged 
his  "word  of  honor"  that  these  massacres  shall  cease.  His 
Majesty,  in  fact,  undertakes,  if  a  reasonable  time  be  given  him, 
to  re-establish  the  normal  state  of  things  in  Turkish  Armenia; 
and  we  know  that  that  normal  condition  implies  the  denial  to 
Christians  of  the  fundamental  rights  of  human  beings,  the 
refusal  of  elementary  justice,  the  prevalence  of  universal  vio- 
lence and  brutality,  the  abolition  of  womanly  purity,  the  dis- 
integration of  the  family,  the  rape  of  tender  children — in  a 
word,  a  system  of  "  government "  for  which  the  history  of  the 
world  affords  no  parallel. 

Yet  unanimous  Europe,  we  are  told,  entertains  no  doubt 
that  the  true  interests  of  Christendom  demand  that  Turkish 
rule,  as  thus  understood,  should  be  maintained.  And,  with 
the  genuine  interests  of  Christianity  at  heart,  the  Great 
Powers  are  agreed  to  maintain  it,  in  God's  name. 

Is  Forbearance  a  Virtue? 

If  the  refusal  of  the  Powers  to  compel  the  Mohammedans 
of  Turkey  to  respect  the  manhood,  the  motherhood,  and 
maidenhood  of  their  Christian  fellow-subjects  could  be,  and 
had  been,  based  upon  their  religious  reluctance  to  employ 
force  even  against  superlative  evil,  one  might  question  the 
wisdom  of  such  forbearance,  but  it  would  be  impossible  to 
withhold  respect  from  the  principle  underlying  it. 

But  such  is  not  the  plea.  Those  same  Governments  who 
persistently  proclaim  Christianity  on  the  one  hand  and  un- 
blushingly  support  the  fiendish  torturers  of  Christians  in 
Turkey  on  the  other,  are  eager  to  blow  each  other's  Christian 
subjects  in  thousands  off  the  face  of  the  earth — aye,  and  to 
invoke  God's  blessing  on  the  work  over  and  above. 


336  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

But  indefensible  as  the  conduct  of  Continental  nations  may 
appear  to  us,  it  is  only  fair  to  say  that  none  of  them  was 
pledged  specially  and  solemnly  to  see  justice  done  to  the 
Armenians ;  none  of  them  broke  any  solemn  promise  by  con- 
niving for  seventeen  years  at  every  species  of  human  villainy 
in  Asia  Minor,  nor  could  any  of  them  reproach  themselves 
with  having  roused  the  sleeping  devils,  lashed  them  to 
fury  against  the  Armenians,  and  then  left  the  latter  to  be 
trampled  upon,  burned,  disembowelled,  and  pitchforked  into 

eternity. 

Silence  Means  Approval. 

This  unenviable  rdle  was  reserved  for  Great  Britain.  Is 
it  to  be  further  persisted  in  ?  And  if  it  is,  are  we,  as 
Christians — nay,  as  men — to  give  the  approval  of  silence  to 
a  line  of  conduct  that  would  disgrace  a  tribe  of  heathens  ?  Is 
there  any  political  advantage  so  important  and  so  seductive 
that  the  hope  of  ultimately  securing  it  should  harden  our 
hearts  to  utter  insensibility  to  the  laws  of  God,  the  prompt- 
ings of  conscience,  the  inborn  instincts  of  healthy  human 
nature  ? 

To  some,  even  among  us,  it  may  perhaps  seem  possible  to 
imitate  the  Christian  States  of  Continental  Europe,  and  keep 
the  standard  of  true  morality  hidden  away,  to  be  applied  only 
to  bygone  times  and  buried  generations.  But  surely  the  bulk 
of  normal  Englishmen  are  still  capable  of  assuming  a  definite 
attitude  towards  contemporary  crimes,  even  though  they  have 
a  political  aspect,  without  staggering  and  reeling  from  the 
centre  of  Christianity  to  the  distant  and  dangerous  circum- 
ference. 

It  cannot  be  too  clearly  stated,  nor  too  widely  published, 
that  what  is  asked  for  is  not  the  establishment  of  an  Armenian 
kingdom  or  principality,  not  a  "  buffer  State,"  not  even 
Christian  autonomy  in  any  sense  that  might  render  it  offen- 


An  AppeaC  for  Armenia,  337 

sive  or  dangerous  to  any  of  the  Powers  of  Europe ;  but  only 
that  by  some  efficacious  means  the  human  beings  who  profess 
the  Christian  rehgion  in  Anatolia,  and  who  professed  and 
practiced  it  there  for  centuries  before  the  Turks  or  Kurds 
were  heard  of,  shall  be  enabled  to  live  and  die  as  human 
beings,  and  that  the  unparalleled  crimes  of  which,  for  the 
past  seventeen  years,  they  have  been  the  silent  victims,  shall 
speedily  and  once  for  all  be  put  a  stop  to. 

What  Hope  for  Armenians? 

What  serious  hope  is  there  that  the  lot  of  the  Armenians 
will  be  bettered  in  the  future  ?  The  question  of  the  promised 
reforms  has  already  ceased  to  be  actual.  The  Grand  Vizier, 
explaining  lately  his  reasons  for  not  publishing  the  Sultan's 
recent  undertaking  to  better  the  condition  of  the  Christians, 
alleged,  and  very  truly  alleged,  that  the  present  Commander 
of  the  Faithful  had  brought  no  new  factor  into  the  question 
that  needed  to  be  published  or  made  known.  "  His  Imperial 
Majesty,"  he  said,  "  made  exactly  the  same  kind  of  promise, 
respecting  the  same  kind  of  reforms,  as  his  illustrious  prede- 
cessor seventeen  years  ago." 

Exactly ;  and  it  will  have  precisely  the  same  kind  of  results. 
The  Christian  Powers  of  Europe  will  see  to  this,  and  England's 
duty  is  admittedly  to  follow  the  Powers,  Continental  juris- 
consults have  just  given  it  as  their  conscientious  opinion  that 
any  special  reforms  for  the  Armenians  would  necessarily  in- 
volve a  grave  violation  of  the  rights  of  man  and  of  the  law  of 
God;  and  the  jurisconsults  ought  to  know.  If  this  be  so, 
the  sensitive  Sultan  will  naturally  shrink  from  such  lawless- 
ness and  godlessness,  and  piously  shelve  the  reforms 

The  reason  given  by  these  conscientious  jurisconsults  is 
intelligent  enough ;  because  to  favor  any  one  class  of  the 
population — say  the  Christians-n^to  the  exclusion  of  the  others, 


338  -  An  Appeal  for  Armenia. 

would  be  to  foster  race  hatred,  to  rouse  religious  fanaticism, 
and  to  unchain  the  most  furious  passions  that  now  lie  dor- 
mant (?)  in  the  Mohammedan  breast.  They  would  strongly 
recommend — would  these  learned  spokesmen  of  the  Christian 
Powers — the  introduction  of  wide-reaching  reforms  for  all 
Turkish  subjects,  were  it  not  that  insuperable  objections  ren- 
der even  such  a  course  absolutely  impossible ;  for,  in  the  first 
place,  the  Powers  have  no  right  to  interfere  in  favor  of  the 
Sultan's  Mohammedan  subjects,  who,  in  this  case,  would  be 
mainly  concerned ;  in  the  second  place,  the  Turks  and  Kurds 
themselves  desire  no  such  reforms,  are,  in  fact,  opposed  to 
their  introduction ;  in  the  third  place,  they  are  utterly  unripe 
for  them ;  and,  in  the  fourth  place,  general  reforms  for  all 
would  necessarily  prove  as  disastrous  as  special  reforms  for 
Armenian  Christians,  because  the  Armenians,  as  the  most 
intelligent  and  only  self-disciplined  element  of  the  population, 
would  profit  by  the  improvements  to  obtain  political  prepon- 
derance for  themselves. 

How  the  Question  would  Settle  Itself. 

Things  had  better,  therefore,  remain  as  they  are,  with  the 
wholesale  butcheries  left  out;  that  is  to  say,  the  normat  con- 
dition of  things  must  be  re-established,  which  in  a  very  few 
years  will  solve  the  Armenian  Question  by  exterminating  the 
Armenians. 

And  England — Christian,  moral  England — apparently  en- 
dorses this  view,  and  seeks  to  persuade  herself  that  by  com- 
bining with  the  Powers  to  carry  it  out,  she  will  have 
discharged  all  her  duties,  general  and  special,  to  the  Chris- 
tians whom  she  solemnly  promised  to  protect.  Is  it  right 
and  proper  to  acquiesce  even  by  silence  in  such  unqualifiable 
conduct  as  this  ? 

Have  the  tender  humanities  of  the  teachings  of  Jesus  no 


An  Appeal  for  Armenia.  339 

longer  any  virtue  that  can  pass  into  our  souls  and  move  us  to 
condemn  in  emphatic  terms  the  abominations  which  are  even 
now  turning  the  Hves  of  our  brothers  and  sisters  in  Armenia 
into  tortures  and  their  horrible  deaths  into  the  triumph  of  the 
most  ferocious  malignity  that  ever  lurked  in  the  abysses  of 
the  human  heart  ? 

If  any  Englishman  in  any  walk  of  life,  be  he  a  Cabinet 
Minister  or  a  Yorkshire  boor,  had  been  appealed  to  for  help 
by  the  wretched  woman  whose  little  girl  was  outraged  to 
death  in  her  presence,  after  she  had  been  dishonored  in  the 
presence  of  her  daughter,  and  her  husband  had  been  killed 
before  the  eyes  of  both,  would  he  have  taken  much  time  to 
reflect  before  according  it  ? 

Had  he  witnessed  the  living,  quivering  Christian's  flesh 
being  offered  for  sale  as  "  fresh  dogs'  meat,"  while  the 
wretched  man's  children,  whom  he  loved  more  than  life,  stood 
opposite  him,  the  one  with  cloven  skull  asking  for  help,  the 
other  innocently  plashing  with  his  wooden  toy  in  the  red 
pool  fed  by  his  father's  blood,  would  he  have  suspended  his 
judgment  until  Continental  Christians  told  him  what  opinion 
he  should  hold  concerning  these  fiendish  ferocities?  Yet 
these  are  the  deeds  which,  in  thousands  and  tens  of  thous- 
ands, are  being  perpetrated,  while  we  rejoice  and  thank  God 
that  at  last  all  Europe  is  unanimous — unanimous  in  its 
resolve  to  shield  the  Turks,  the  doers  of  these  deeds,  from 
harm. 

If  there  still  be  a  spark  of  divinity  in  our  souls,  or  a  trace 
of  healthy  human  sentiment  in  c»ur  hearts,  we  shall  not  hesi- 
tate to  record  our  vehement  protest  against  these  hell-born 
crimes,  that  pollute  one  of  the  fairest  portions  of  God's  earth, 
and  our  strong  condemnation  of  any  and  every  line  of  policy 
that  may  tend  directly  or  indirectly  to  perpetuate  or  condone 
them. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Massacre  at  Urfa. 

BY  MISS  CORINNA  SHATTUCK, 
Missionary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

We  had  often  heard  that  the  Moslem.s  were  dissatisfied  with 
the  attempt  in  October,  1895,  which  resulted  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  only  forty  lives  and  about  $'/$o,(yx>  worth  of  goods,  the 
plunder  of  600  shops  and  289  houses.  After  this  the  Chris- 
tians were  all  completely  disarmed  by  the  Government.  Some 
eighty  men  had  been  imprisoned,  and  we  feared  another  scene 
of  terror.     It  came  at  last  with  great  suddenness. 

On  Saturday,  December  28th,  1895,  the  firing  of  a  few  guns 
in  the  Moslem  quarter  south  of  us  proved  the  signal.  Imme- 
diately an  immense  multitude  gathered  on  the  hill  back  of 
our  house.  The  guards  in  the  street  east  of  us  went  to  meet 
the  people,  fired  a  few  shots  over  their  heads,  and  then 
allowed  the  mass  of  wild  humanity,  thirsty  for  blood,  to  pass 
into  the  city  and  begin  their  work.  The  horrid  work  con- 
tinued until  dark.  Three  soldiers  kept  the  mob  from  enter- 
ing our  street,  constantly  proclaiming  :  "  It  is  the  house  of  a 
foreigner,  and  it  is  forbidden  to  touch  her."  We  find  by  count 
that  our  "  shadow  "  covered  seventeen  houses  and  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  people. 

The  mob  came  as  far  as  to  enter  our  girls'  schoolrooms  in 
the  churchyard,  and  they  broke  open  the  third  door  below  us 
on  the  street  and  plundered  the  house.  I  saw  one  man 
beaten  and  then  thrown  down  on  the  roof  just  opposite  to  me 
on  the  other  side  of  the  street.  The  Syrians  and  Roman 
340 


The  Massacre  at  Urfa,  541 

Catholics  were  also  spared.  All  other  Christians  suffered 
complete  loss  of  all  home  furnishings,  and  some  houses  were 
burned.  The  number  of  killed  cannot  be  less  than  3,500  and 
may  reach  4,000.  Of  these  it  is  estimated  that  1,500  perished 
in  the  great  Gregorian  church. 

On  Saturday  that  portion  of  the  city  was  hardly  touched, 
I  and  great  numbers  of  Armenians  flocked  to  the  church  for 
safety  that  night.  Sunday  morning  the  work  began  again  at 
daybreak,  and  when  the  people  reached  the  church  the 
soldiers  broke  open  the  doors.  Then  entering,  they  began  a 
butchery  which  became  a  great  holocaust.  It  was  participated 
in  by  many  classes  of  Moslems.  For  two  days  the  air  of  the 
city  was  unendurable ;  then  began  the  clearing  up.  During 
two  days  we  saw  constantly  men  lugging  sacks  filled  with 
bones  and  ashes.  The  dragging  off  of  1,500  bodies  for  burial 
in  trenches  was  more  quickly  completed,  some  being  taken  on 
animals. 

How  they  Escaped. 

The  last  work  of  all  has  been  the  clearing  of  the  wells. 
From  one  very  large  well  it  is  said  that  sixty  bodies  were 
taken.  It  is  well  authenticated  that  twenty  bodies  were  taken 
from  another  well.  About  three  hundred  persons  escaped 
from  the  church  by  way  of  the  roof,  which  was  reached  by  a 
narrow  staircase  on  the  inside.  Shortly  after  noon  on  Sun- 
day some  fifteen  or  more  of  the  prominent  citizens  and  Gov- 
ernment officials  (not  including  the  Mutessarif,  or  the  military 
commander),  preceded  by  a  military  band  and  mounted  guard, 
made  a  grand  parade  of  the  city.  They  entered  our  yard, 
and,  speaking  with  me  from  the  veranda,  they  assured  me  of 
perfect  safety  and  begged  me  not  to  be  alarmed,  as  it  was 
"nothing  that  pertained  to  me."  I  very  quickly  went  into 
my  room. 

The  work  did  not  cease  until  dark  on  Sunday,  the  29tli. 


342  The  Massacre  at  Urfa. 

On  Monday  the  Kurds  and  Arabs  were  prevented  from  enter- 
ing the  city,  the  firing  beginning  about  dawn.  All  day  Sun- 
day a  strong  guard  was  about  our  premises.  A  captain  of  the 
army  sat  on  his  horse  for  hours  at  our  northwest  corner,  just 
outside  of  the  church  premises.  Repeatedly  I  received 
salutations  and  assurances  of  perfect  safety  from  Government 
officials  during  that  longest  day  I  ever  knew.  It  was  evident 
that  the  utmost  was  done  to  protect  me.  How  willingly  I 
would  have  died  that  the  thousands  oi parents  might  be  spared 
for  their  children  ! 

The  work  of  plunder  is  complete.  Literally  naught  remains. 
By  actual  count  only  ten  Protestant  houses  remain  untouched, 
and  five  of  these  are  in  the  district  which  I  have  spoken  of  as 
my  shadow. 

The  Number  Lost. 

Our  loss  of  life  is  one  hundred  and  five,  all  but  nine  being 
men.  These  nine  include  two  women  and  seven  children, 
who  were  in  the  Gregorian  church  when  it  was  sacked.  Our 
wounded  are  many.  I  have  eighteen  under  my  immediate 
care.  Most  of  these  have  several  severe  wounds.  One  has 
eleven  ;  one  has  eighteen;  ghastly  sword  and  axe  cuts  on  head 
and  neck.  There  are  a  few  gunshot  wounds.  There  is  only 
one  doctor  for  the  whole  city.  He  has  three  hundred  and 
fifty,  and  cannot  care  for  more,  nor  for  these  but  in  part.  He 
came  at  my  call  to  see  one  who  we  supposed  must  lose  his 
hand,  dressed  the  arm,  and  committed  the  case  to  my  care. 

Thus  far,  thank  God,  all  are  doing  well.  I  have  found 
three  persons  who,  like  myself,  are  inexperienced  in  such 
matters ;  but  they  are  proving  careful,  sensible  workers  with 
me.  We  dress  most  of  the  wounds  in  the  church.  Our 
schoolrooms  (all  but  one,  used  as  headquarters  of  our  guard) 
are  crowded  with  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  or  three  hundred 
of  the  most  forlorn  and  needy.     Our  home  is  also  full.     Those 


The  Massacre  at  Urfa.  343 

who  are  spared  to  their  families  are  in  great  fear,  and  wish  to 
be  near  me.  We  cannot  receive  all,  and  it  is  hard  to  daily- 
turn  away  so  many.  Some  have  a  little  food,  found  in  their 
houses,  and  some  nothing.  One  of  the  several  great  men 
who  have  called  to  express  sympathy,  and  to  say,  Turkish 
style,  "  It  was  from  God,"  has  sent  provisions,  for  which  I  am 
exceedingly  grateful. 

The  Government  provides  about  200  loaves  of  bread  per 
day  for  the  poor.  But  all  this  kindness  will  soon  come  to  an 
end,  and  utter  poverty  will  be  the  lot  of  most.  The  Protest- 
ant pastor,  the  Rev.  H.  Abouhayatian,  and  several  efficient 
members  of  the  church  are  among  the  dead.  I  tried  to  secure 
the  body  of  the  pastor,  but  failed.  His  children — six — they 
immediately  granted  to  me. 

Done  Systematically. 

The  custom  in  these  affairs  so  general  in  Turkey  seems  to 
Se  for  one  party  to  rush  ahead  and  kill.  This  is  followed  by 
another  party  which  hurries  off  the  women  and  children  to 
some  mosque,  khan  or  some  Moslem  home  temporarily  open 
for  their  reception.  Lastly,  this  operation  is  followed  by  the 
stripping  of  the  house.  Children  often  get  separated  from 
parents  and  are  late  in  being  found.  One  of  the  earliest  offers 
made  to  me  was  to  undertake  finding  any  lost  if  I  would  send 
in  the  full  name.  My  own  guards,  twenty  in  number  since 
Sunday,  do  my  every  bidding  as  if  I  were  a  queen.  I  use 
them  for  help  in  all  sorts  of  ways. 

Markets  are  closed,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  get  some 
things  much  needed.  We  have  had  but  forty-five  beds  given 
back  to  us  of  those  plundered,  and  a  few  pieces  of  copper; 
as  yet  I  fail  to  secure  more,  or  instructions  as  to  method  of 
procedure  for  individuals  to  secure  stolen  goods.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  large  numbers  of  beds  and  much  copper-ware 


344  The  Massacre  at  Urfa. 

stored  for  return  to  the  owners,  but  all  fear  to  stir  lest  the  end 
has  not  yet  come. 

The  aged  Bishop  of  the  Gregorians  was  spared,  but  only 
one,  or  possibly  two  priests. 

Our  own  teacher  of  the  Boys'  High  School  and  several 
Gregorian  teachers  were  killed.  I  believe  the  Gregorians  are 
in  greater  suffering  than  the  Protestants,  having  no  foreigner 
to  do  for  them,  and  any  efficient  ones  spared  are  afraid  to 
venture  out. 

To-day  the  long-expected  soldiers  have  arrived — eight  or 
nine  hundred.  Our  city  has  been  guarded  (?)  by  resident 
soldiers.  We  must  have  your  prayers  and  your  pecuniary 
aid.     How  are  the  people  to  live  through  this  winter  ? 


CHAPTER  XIX. 
The  Last  the  Worst. 

BY  KINSLEY  TWINING,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

The  bare,  bald  and  humiliating  fact  that  must  dawn  on  us, 
sooner  or  later,  as  to  these  Armenian  massacres,  is  that,  in 
spite  of  the  assurance  our  nineteenth-century  civilization  and 
progress  were  supposed  to  give  against  such  atrocities,  the 
impossible  has  burst  on  us,  and  of  all  the  records  of  cruelty 
and  horror  enacted  by  man  on  man,  this  latest  extirpation  of 
the  Christian  population  in  Asiastic  Turkey  is  the  worst. 

There  is  an  awful  ferocity  in  it  which  balks  and  baffles  this 
fancied  age  of  peace,  and  sets  a-ringing  in  our  ears  the  impre- 
cation which  Mohammed  died  repeating :  "  Lord,  destroy  the 
Jews  and  Christians !  "  When  at  his  first  victory  over  the 
Koreish  he  ordered  and  supervised  in  person  the  massacre  of 
six  hundred  Jews  in  one  day,  he  could  plead  in  extenuation 
the  cruel  necessity  which  religious  fanaticism  accepted  as  the 
law  of  God.  He  could  even  say  that  he  had  first  pondered 
the  question  as  it  lay  between  a  propaganda  by  truth  and 
reason,  or  a  propaganda  by  the  sword,  and  that  when  at  last 
the  sword  had  been  placed  in  his  hand  the  cruelty  of  his  cam- 
paigning was  but  the  stern  faithfulness  of  the  Prophet  against 
the  enemies  of  God. 

When,  under  the  Caliphs  who  succeeded  him,  women  and 
children  swarmed  over  the  battle-fields,  armed  with  clubs  to 
beat  the  life  from  the  wounded  Christians,  still  warm  and 
breathing  on  the  ground,  there  still   remained  the  plea  that 

345 


346  The  Last  the   Worst. 

Islam's  God  called  them  to  this  sacrifice  of  pity  in  the  breasts 
of  women  and  children. 

During  the  hundred  years  when  Islam  was  trampling  out 
the  faith  in  Christ  with  fire  and  massacre  in  Syria  and  Egypt, 
shook  its  sword  over  the  enfeebled  churches  of  Africa,  the 
rich  fields  of  Spain,  and  finally  went  down  at  Poictiers  under 
the  tremendous  blows  of  Charles  Martel  and  his  Austrasian 
Franks,  during  all  this  bloody  course  the  Saracen  could  say 
for  himself  that  he  had  confined  his  cruelty  to  the  field  of  war, 
and  that  his  reign  in  peace  was  mild  and  just. 

Some  such  palliation  has  been  attempted  for  the  Inquisition 
in  Spain,  for  the  Duke  of  Alva  in  the  Netherlands,  for  the 
ineffable  atrocities  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Day  and  the  French 
Reign  of  Terror. 

Heathenish  Ferocity. 

Torture  as  an  adjunct  of  the  law  and  for  the  examination 
of  witnesses  throws  a  black-enough  cloud  on  the  history  of 
Europe  from  far  back  in  Grecian  times  when  Aristogeiton  was 
tortured  after  the  assassination  of  Hipparchus,  or  Philotas, 
when  accused  of  conspiring  against  Alexander.  It  is  to  the 
everlasting  credit  of  Egypt  and  of  the  Mosaic  code  that  no 
traces  of  these  terrible  ministers  of  law  exist  in  them ;  while  in 
Greece  the  wheel,  the  rack,  the  burning  brick,  were  employed 
to  further  the  ends  of  justice. 

For  such  barbarisms  as  these  some  palliation  may  be  found 
in  the  prevailing  customs,  in  the  ideas  of  a  dark  age,  in  the 
gentler  instincts  of  humanity  blunted  by  the  stern  conception 
of  an  overmastering  mission.  Excepting  for  the  fantastic 
atrocities  of  Nero,  some  such  modifying  considerations  will 
apply  to  the  two  centuries  and  a  half  of  persecution  in  which 
the  Roman  Emperors  tried  and  tested  the  Christian  Church — 
especially  when  emperors  like  Trojan,  Marcus  Aurelius  and 
Diocletian  are  concerned. 


The  Last  the   Worst.  B47 

But  when  we  search  for  comparisons  with  what  has  been 
going  on  in  Asiatic  Turkey  against  the  Armenians  for  about 
seventeen  years,  there  are  no  large  examples  anywhere  to 
match  it.  A  few  solitary  instances  stand  out  in  Roman  his- 
tory, such  as  Suetonius's  reports  of  the  Emperor  Tiberius 
adding  zest  to  his  besotted  life  by  delight  in  these  inhuman 
pleasures  and  these  terrible  pursuits,  or  of  the  monster 
Caligula  introducing  torture  as  the  pleasing  accompaniment 
of  his  dinners  or  a  relish  to  his  meals,  while  the  Emperor 
Claudius  sat  by  enjoying  the  fun. 

The  Scourge  of  the  Century. 

Expand  these  solitary  instances,  these  demoniac  examples, 
sifted  out  of  all  the  history  of  the  world's  ferocious  examples 
and  preserved  to  us,  not  as  characteristic  of  the  times,  but  as 
horrible  exceptions  to  affright  the  reader  and  as  monumental 
subjects  for  everlasting  scorn — expand  these  solitary  instances, 
and  we  have  before  us  the  fair,  typical  representation  of  the 
Governmental  extermination  which  Turkey  has  for  these  last 
fifteen  years  been  practicing  on  the  Armenian  Christians  in 
Anatolia,  in  an  age  of  toleration,  in  a  time  of  peace  and  social 
order. 

There  never  was  anything  like  it  before  in  the  history  of  the 
world.  The  only  model  or  precedent  for  it  is  to  be  found  in 
the  inhuman  practices  of  a  Tiberius  or  a  Caligula,  in  serving 
Tip  human  torture  at  table  as  a  dish  fit  for  a  king. 

What  the  Roman  historian  has  described  as  the  exceptional 
horrors  privately  practiced  in  Rome  by  its  trio  of  imperial 
demons,  has  for  seventeen  years  been  the  policy  of  Turkey 
for  the  government,  the  extermination,  I  should  say,  of  the 
Armenians.  It  has  called  to  its  aid  the  passion,  the  lust,  the 
fanatic  ferocity  of  a  population  which  in  these  elements  of 
inhumanity  was  never  surpassed  ;  with  cool  deliberation  and 


348  The  Last  the  Worst. 

proceeding  one  step  at  a  time  it  has  first  despoiled  these 
industrious  tribes  of  the  proceeds  of  the  toil  and  thrift  on 
which  the  Empire  subsisted.  When  beggared,  unarmed, 
helpless,  and  incapable  of  self-support  or  defense,  it  has  taken 
from  them  the  ordinary  protection  of  law,  denied  them  the 
common  rights  of  trial  for  which  Governments  exist,  and  flung 
them  instead  into  a  Mohammedan  saturnalia  in  which  nothing 
was    forbidden    but    humanity,   and   nothing   rewarded   but 

ferocity. 

Masters  of  Cruelty. 

No  cruelty  that  could  be  practiced  was  omitted  by  these 
masters  of  the  art.  Fathers,  husbands,  friends  were  slowly 
and  systematically  done  to  death,  while  their  wives,  sisters 
and  daughters  were  compelled  to  witness  their  suflerings. 
Wives  were  outraged  in  the  presence  of  their  husbands ; 
sisters,  of  their  brothers;  maidens,  of  their  agonized  mothers. 
Women  with  child  were  ripped  up  by  a  demon  soldiery,  with 
bets  among  them  on  the  sex  of  the  unborn  infants.  With 
grim  ingenuity  these  demons  practiced  an  economy  in  their 
art  which  tortured  the  poor  sufferers  out  of  life  slowly  inch 
by  inch  and  drop  by  drop,  every  inch  in,  agony,  every  drop 
the  quintessence  of  some  ingenious  torture. 

As  for  the  forms  of  law,  none  were  thought  of  until  it  be- 
came important  for  the  Porte  to  put  a  decent  face  on  the  terrible 
proceedings  of  its  officers.  Districts  were  laid  waste,  villages 
were  burned,  but  pillaged  first,  of  course.  The  Armenian 
population  of  thriving  provinces  fled  in  terror  across  the  bor- 
der to  Russia  or  to  Persia.  At  Erzriim,  Bitlis,  Trebizond, 
Erzingan,  it  was  the  soldier  and  the  official  who  led  on  the 
fray. 

At  HarpM,  Urfa,  Cesarea  and  elsewhere,  it  was  the  fanatic 
population  let  loose  to  plunder,  torture,  rape  and  work  their 
brutal  will  on  Christians,  from  whose  property  and  person  the 


The  Last  the  Worsi.  349 

protection  of  the  civil  law  was  removed.  Probably  seventy- 
five  thousand  Christian  corpses  lie  mouldering  in  the  glens,  and 
around  the  once  happy  villages  of  Anatolia  ;  and,  among  them 
all,  happy  were  the  men  who  met  their  fate  without  torture, 
and  the  women  who  met  it  without  outrage. 

The  best  impression  of  what  it  was  comes  to  us  from  a 
woman  who,  frenzied  by  her  sufferings,  but  still  clinging  to  the 
drifting  wrecks  of  faith,  is  reported  to  have  cried  among  her 
kindred  that  God  himself  had  gone  mad,  and  that  maniacs 
and  demons  were  ranging  the  earth. 

Deliberate  Murder. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  cruelty  has  the  Government 
^)f  a  country  thus  reversed  its  functions,  systematically,  and 
jith  cool  deliberation  invoked  such  agencies  for  the  predeter- 
mined extirpation  of  its  population.  Roman  rigor  was  not 
equal  to  this  in  its  proceedings  against  the  Christian  faith. 
The  martyrs  of  Lyons  had  nothing  like  this  to  confront.  De- 
portation is  bad  enough  ;  but  when  before  in  the  history  of 
man  has  the  deportation  of  a  people  been  committed  to  fierce 
Kurds,  hanging  on  the  flanks  of  the  fugitives  to  plunder  the 
men  and  outrage  the  women  as  many  times  as  a  fresh  band 
might  assail  them  ? 

One  of  the  worst  features  of  religious  persecution  has 
always  been  that  it  subjected  the  morally  best,  most  refined, 
intelligent,  pure  and  sensitive  people  in  the  community  to  be 
treated  as  the  worst. 

Never  before  has  the  world  had  such  an  example  of  this  as 
now.  With  cool  and  predetermined  purpose,  intelligent, 
thrifty  and  morally  sensitive  people  have  been  thrust  into  the 
most  infamous  relations.  The  rich  are  systematically  beg- 
gared and  left  to  sufferings  more  cruel  than  death.  Teach- 
ers, scholars,  ministers  of  religion,  missionaries  and  people  of 


350  The  Last  the   Worst. 

refined  life  and  character  are  submitted  to  the  brutal  rigor 
and  infamous  demoralization  of  Mohammedan  prisons.  Mo- 
thers have  been  compelled  to  witness  with  their  own  eyes  the 
outrage  of  daughters  whom  they  have  been  training  in  Chris- 
tian purity.  Women  not  trained  for  the  Turkish  seraglio  nor 
to  set  a  low  price  on  a  woman's  honor,  but  to  rate  it  as  dearer 
than  life,  have  been  violated  in  the  open  sight  of  day,  on  the 
public  highway,  and  in  the  company  of  brutal  men. 

Worst  of  all,  these  things  are  done  in  an  age  of  light  whose 
pulses  are  full  of  mercy  and  whose  every  policy  is  peace, 
done  too  with  every  feature  of  mediaeval  brutality  brutalized, 
with  fury  infuriated,  and  license  libertinized,  done  with  glee 
and  gloating,  in  bold  demoniac  defiance  of  the  light  that 
shines,  the  right  that  rules,  the  ideas  that  dominate  the  moral 
world  for  Turk  and  Christian,  done  with  cold  deliberation  and 
persistent  purpose  against  the  protest  of  the  Christian  world, 
and  with  neither  war  nor  rebellion  to  excuse  them. 

And  now  the  last  step  in  this  incomparable  history  of  hor- 
rors adds  an  infinite  hypocrisy  to  the  infinite  atrocity  of  it  all. 
The  Sultan  rises  to  disclaim  his  deeds,  and  do  homage  to  the 
humanities  he  has  outraged  as  they  were  never  outraged 
before. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

Russia  and  Turkey. 

BY   CYRUS    HAMLIN,    D.D., 

Forvterfy  Missionary  in  Turkey  and  Founder  of  Robert  College,   Con- 
stantinople. 

When  Ivan  III.  married  Sophia,  niece  of  Constantin  Palae- 
ologus,  the  last  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  he  claimed  to  be 
the  rightful  heir  to  the  Byzantine  throne  and  adopted  its 
symbol,  the  double-headed  eagle.  This  was  in  1472,  and 
during  all  these  four  hundred  years  Russia  has  kept  her  eye 
upon  Constantinople. 

In  1492  Ivan  III.  wrote  a  letter  to  Sultan  Bajazet  com- 
plaining of  certain  acts  of  injustice  to  Russian  merchants.  In 
1495  he  sent  an  Ambassador  to  Bajazet  and  ordered  him  not 
to  bow  the  knee  to  the  Sultan  or  permit  any  other  ambassa- 
dor to  have  precedence.  Thus  began  with  offensive  arro- 
gance a  diplomatic  intercourse  of  four  hundred  years  which 
has  become  more  polished,  but  not  less  imperious  and  agres- 
sive.  Then  Ivan  claimed  only  37,000  square  leagues,  or 
273,000  square  miles.  The  Czar  now  claims  8,644,000,  with 
a  population  of  102,000,000  (1880). 

The  first  conflict  of  arms  occurred  in  1569,  and  was  signifi- 
cant of  all  the  future  between  Russia  and  Turkey.  Sokolli, 
the  very  able  and  enterprising  Grand  Vizier  of  Selim  II., 
undertook  to  open  a  water  communication  between  the  Black 
Sea  and  the  Caspian  through  the  Sea  of  Azof  and  the  rivers 
Don  and  Volga.     These  two  great  rivers  approach  each  other 

351 


352  Russia  and  Turkey. 

within  thirty  miles,  and  then  the  Volga  turns  to  the  Caspian 
and  the  Don  to  the  Sea  of  Azof. 

Sokolli  had  a  powerful  army,  but  the  Russians  fell  upon 
him  and  routed  his  army  at  Astrakhan  and  his  army  and 
workmen  on  the  Don.  Russia  thus  struck  a  fatal  blow  to 
one  of  the  grandest  schemes  for  the  expansion  and  strength 
of  the  Turkish  Empire.  The  canal  of  only  thirty  miles  then 
projected  remains  unaccomplished  to  this  day.  More  than 
eighty  years  passed  before  another  armed  conflict  occurred. 

A  Decline  Past  Remedy. 

The  decline  of  the  great  empire  was  very  rapid.  The  Eng- 
lish Ambassador,  Sir  Thomas  Roe  (1622),  declared  that  cor- 
ruption, venality,  oppression  and  poverty,  the  wasting  of  the 
population  and  signs  of  anarchy  proved  the  condition  of 
things  to  be  past  remedy.      It  is  just  so  now  after  274  years. 

The  destruction  of  the  great  Turkish  army  before  Vienna, 
1683,  and  the  disorder  which  followed  gave  Russia  an  oppor- 
tunity for  war,  which  she  improved,  and  wrested  some  impor- 
tant places  from  the  Porte.  She  had  been  for  a  long  time 
successful  in  stirring  up  war  between  Turkey  and  Austria 
and  Turkey  and  Poland,  being  equally  satisfied  with  the 
weakening  of  either  party.  After  disastrous  battles  by  sea 
and  land  with  Venice,  Austria  and  Poland  the  celebrated 
treaty  of  Carlowitz  was  signed  (1699).  England,  Holland, 
Venice,  Poland,  Austria,  Russia  and  the  Porte  were  concerned 
in  it.  Austria,  Venice  and  Poland  were  strengthened  by  it. 
Russia  captured  Azof  and  the  shores  of  the  Euxine.  Turkey 
diminished  and  weakened.  Since  then  Turkey  has  been  a 
center  of  diplomatic  war  to  the  European  nations,  but  all  fear 
of  her  as  a  military  power  ceased.  From  that  time  Russia 
comes  forward  as  the  crafty  and  persistent  enemy  of  Turkey 
and  the  claimant  of  Constantinople. 


Russia  and  Turkey.  353 

Peter  the  Great  now  began  to  rouse  the  Moldavians  and 
Wallachians  to  revolt,  and  he  declared  himself  the  friend  and 
defender  of  all  the  members  of  the  Greek  Church.  He  easily 
found  occasion  to  declare  war  with  Turkey.  It  was  a  strange 
fortune  for  Peter  to  be  caught  in  a  position  so  commanded  by 
the  Grand  Vizier  that  he  could  neither  fight  nor  escape,  and 
must  have  surrendered  at  discretion ;  but  the  jewels  of  the 
Empress  bribed  the  Vizier  to  make  peace.  Thus  Peter  the 
Great  escaped.  He  was  making  vast  preparations  to  break 
the  treaty  when  he  died  (1736). 

Seeds  of  Evil  to  Turkey. 

War  again,  fierce  and  bloody,  with  victories  and  defeats  on 
both  sides,  but  with  a  great  preponderance  of  loss  to  the 
Turks,  ended  in  the  peace  and  treaty  of  Kainardji.  Its  XIV. 
sections  are  too  long  to  be  discussed  here.  They  were  full 
of  the  .seeds  of  evil  to  Turkey.  Von  Hammer  calls  it  "  the 
commencement  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  at 
least  in  Europe  "  (1774).  Europe  exulted  in  this  crowned 
glory  of  Russia  and  degradation  and  humiliation  of  the  Great 
Sultan. 

Russia  soon  broke  the  treaty  and  subjugated  the  Crimea, 
whose  independence  she  had  guaranteed.  She  declared, 
however,  that  she  did  it  solely  for  the  good  of  the  people. 
She  destroyed  many  thousands  of  the  Moslems  in  the  most 
ruthless  massacres.  Seventy  thousand  Armenians  also,  w  ho 
would  not  join  the  Russian  Church,  were  driven  out  into 
Turkey  in  a  severe  winter,  and  nearly  all  perished  by  Ihc 
Way.  In  1779  a  modification  of  the  treaty  of  Kainardji  was 
made  to  suit  the  Czar  and  further  humiliate  the  Sultan. 

After  another  fierce  war  the  treaty  of  Jassy,  1792,  gave 
Russia  more  territory  and  Turkey  less ;  but  the  Empress 
Catherine   only  regarded  it  as  furnishing  an  opportunity  to 


354  Russia  and  Turkey. 

make  final  and  decisive  preparation  to  take  the  great  capital 
and  place  one  of  the  royal  family  of  Russia  on  the  throne. 
Death  interrupted  her  plans  and  saved  Constantinople. 

The  Treaty  of  Bucharest,  1812,  closed  another  conquering 
war.  Moldavia  and  Wallachia  that  had  been  occupied  by 
Russia  were  given  back  to  Turkey,  who  engaged  to  regard  all 
the  obligations  of  previous  treaties  toward  Russia.  Russia 
was  called  off  by  European  wars  and  had  need  of  all  her 
troops.     Turkey  would  always  "  keep  "  for  any  occasion. 

The  next  important  treaty  between  Russia  and  Turkey  was 
that  of  Adrianople.  The  Sultan  had  lost  his  fleet  at  Navarino, 
and  had  destroyed  his  Janizaries  ;  Russia  pounced  upon  him 
to  destroy  him.  But  the  new  recruits  fought  with  such  des- 
peration, that  the  campaign  of  1828  was  a  failure.  In  1829 
Diebitsch,  with  overwhelming  force,  crossed  the  Balkans  and 
took  Adrianople.  A  very  damaging  treaty  was  imposed 
upon  Mahmoud  while  the  Russian  army  was  wasting  away 
with  cholera  or  plague  at  such  a  fearful  rate  that,  had  the 
Sultan  delayed  two  weeks,  he  might  have  imposed  conditions. 
He  had  to  pay  an  indemnity  of  ;^25,ooo,ooo  and  grant  Rus- 
sia whatever  privileges  she  asked. 

The  Pasha  of  Egypt  gave  Russia  the  next  good  chance  of 
contact  with  Turkey.  His  war-like  son,  Ibrahim,  had  con- 
quered Syria,  and  had  united  Asia  Minor  triumphantly.  The 
Sultan  called  upon  England  for  help,  but  her  eyes  were 
holden  that  she  could  not  see.  Russia  jumped  at  the  chance, 
entered  the  Bosphorus  and  landed  an  army  on  the  Asiatic 
shore  to  defend  Constantinople.  The  treaty  of  Unkiar  Iske- 
lessi  followed,  and  Turkey  became  little  more  than  a  vassal  of 
the  Czar.  By  successive  and  bloody  wars  and  successive  and 
skillful  treaties  she  had  made  her  gradual  approaches  until  no 
liberty  of  movement  in  foreign  affairs  was  left. 

England,  France  and  Austria  viewed  this  progress  of  Rus- 


Russia  and  Turkey.  355 

sia  with  alarm ;  and  when  the  Czar  declared  his  intention  to 
administer  upon  the  estate  of  "  the  sick  man,"  they,  with  Sar- 
dinia, united  against  him — Austria  holding  a  semi-neutral 
ground. 

The  result  of  the  Crimean  war  need  not  be  remarked  upon. 
England  triumphed  at  Sebastopol,  and  Russia  at  the  Peace  of 
Paris.  Louis  Napoleon,  who  had  no  honest  streak  in  his 
character,  betrayed  the  allies  and  united  with  Russia  to  secure 
absolute  freedom  of  reform  to  Turkey,  which  was  to  make 
reform  impossible. 

Beaten  and  Disorganized. 

Ten  years  more  passed — a  long  space  for  Russia  not  to  be 
at  war  with  Turkey — and  the  Servian  war  of  1876  led  to  the 
Russo-Turkish  war,  in  which  the  Turkish  armies  were  beaten 
and  disorganized,  and  Russia  marched  to  the  confines  of  Con- 
stantinople. She  had  at  length  the  long-coveted  prize  in  her 
grasp ;  but  the  Congress  of  Berlin  wrested  it  from  her,  made 
Bulgaria,  Servia  and  Bosnia  free,  and  left  the  Armenians  to 
the  tender  mercies  of  the  Turk. 

One  thing  should  be  considered  in  all  this  marvelous  his- 
tory of  aggression  and  increasing  strength  on  one  side,  of 
growing  weakness  and  ruin  on  the  other:  Russia  has  attained 
her  ends  by  the  power  of  gold  as  much  as  by  arms.  She  has 
always  a  large  party  openly  or  secretly  in  favor  of  her  plans. 
,  She  has  always  opposed  every  reform  which  England  has 
inaugurated.  Lord  Stratford  De  Redcliffe  was  more  than  a 
match  for  her,  but  with  that  one  exception  England's  attempts 
to  strengthen  Turkey  have  been  notorious  failures.  Russia's 
labors  to  weaken  her  have  been  a  notorious  success.  The 
result  is  Turkey  is  now  in  the  hands  of  Russia.  Europe 
looks  on  and  thinks. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  Tyrant  Turk  and  the  Craven  Statesmen. 

BY    FRANCES    E.    WILLARD. 

An  ancient  nation  is  being  slowly  slaughtered  at  the  foot  of 
Mt.  Ararat,  fifty  thousand  victims  stretched  out  under  God's 
sky  in  the  slow  cycle  of  a  year ;  women,  pure,  devout  and 
;omely,  suffering  two  deaths — a  living  and  a  dying  death  ; 
ittle  children  poised  on  the  bayonets  of  Moslem  soldiers, 
villages  burned,  and  starvation  the  common  lot. 

On  the  other  hand,  Christian  Europe,  with  seven  millions 
■>f  soldiers  who  take  their  rations  and  their  sacrament  regu- 
larly; statesmen  who  kneel  on  velvet  cushions  in  beautiful 
cathedrals,  and  pray,  "  We  beseech  thee  to  hear  us,  good 
Lord;"  diplomatists  who  can  "  shape  the  whisper  of  a  throne" 
and  shade  the  meaning  of  an  Ultimatum  ;  but  neither  states- 
man, diplomat  nor  soldier  has  wit,  wisdom  or  will  to  save  a 
single  life,  shelter  a  single  tortured  babe,  or  supply  a  single 
loaf  of  bread  to  the  starving  Christians  on  the  Armenian 
hillsides :  *'  vested  interests  "  are  against  it,  "  the  balance  of 
power  "  does  not  permit  it,  the  will  of  the  Sultan  is  the  only 
will  in  the  Empire  of  Turkey,  and  all  the  wills  of  all  the 
Christian  nations  cannot  move  it  one  hair. 

The  Turk  is  a  savage,  while  the  statesmen  are — over- 
civilized  ;  he  is  a  tyrant,  while  they  are — craven  cowards. 

Meanwhile,  a  star  moves  toward  the  East ;  it  caught  its 
light  from  the  Star  of  Btchlehem.  One  woman,  well-nigh 
seventy  years  of  age,  takes  her  life  in  her  hands  and  goes 
356 


Tyrant  Turk  and  Craven  Statesmen.         357 

forward  to  the  rescue ;  she  goes  to  bind  up  wounds,  to  give 
out  bread,  to  light  the  fires  on  blackened  hearthstones,  to  put 
hope  into  broken  hearts.  She  is  a  greater  power  to-day  for 
God  and  Brotherhood  than  all  the  statesmen,  diplomatists  and 
soldiers.  The  world's  eyes  follow  her  with  love,  they  cannot 
see  her  plainly  for  tears. 

Did  our  Heavenly  Father  overrule  the  wickedness  of 
leaders  to  put  before  humanity  an  object  lesson,  on  the 
broadest  scale,  of  the  futility  of  force  and  the  omnipotence  of 
Love? 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

International  Politics  at  Constantinople. 

BY  GEORGE  WASHBURN,  D.D., 
President  of  Robert  College,  Constantinople. 

Constantinople  has  been  the  great  battle-ground  of  Euro- 
pean diplomacy.  England  was  the  first  in  the  field.  The 
occasion  of  her  action  was  the  destruction  of  the  Armenian 
villages  and  the  massacres  of  many  of  the  people  in  the 
JCurdish  mountains  near  Sassun,  in  August  and  September, 
1894.  The  facts  were  denied  by  the  Turkish  Government, 
and  she  demanded  an  investigation  and  such  reforms  as  should 
insure  the  safety  and  well-being  of  the  Armenians.  She 
invited  Russia  and  France  to  unite  with  her  in  securing  both 
these  ends.  They  consented.  Italy  expressed  a  wish  to  join 
them,  but  this  offer  was  declined.  Austria  and  Germany  were 
not  invited,  and  did  not  wish  to  be,  as  they  had  no  interest  in 
Asiatic  Turkey. 

England,  France  and  Russia  worked  together  m  apparent 
harmony,  secured  a  Turkish  commission  of  investigation  and 
appointed  their  own  delegates  to  oversee  its  action.  This 
Commission,  appointed  in  November,  1894,  continued  its  sit- 
tings until  July,  1895,  and  a  report  of  its  doings  has  just  been 
published  in  an  English  Blue  Book.  Meanwhile,  the  English, 
Russian  and  French  ambassadors  devoted  their  attention  to 
the  elaboration  of  a  scheme  of  reforms  for  the  six  provinces 
in  which  the  Armenians  were  most  numerous.  This  was 
completed  and  presented  to  the  Sultan  as  the  minimum  of 
358 


International  Politics  at  Constantinople.       359 

reforms  which  the  three  Powers  could  accept,  and  his  imme- 
diate acceptance  of  them  demanded.  This  was  in  May,  1895. 
After  a  delay  of  more  than  two  weeks,  the  Sultan  returned  an 
evasive  and  unsatisfactory  answer.  Up  to  this  point  the  three 
Powers  seem  to  have  worked  together  in  harmony.  The  other 
Powers,  when  appealed  to  by  the  Sultan,  declined  to  interfere. 

Three  Powers  Opposed  to  Coercion. 

The  question  then  arose  what  was  to  be  done.  Should 
these  demands  be  presented  as  an  ultimatum,  and  the  Sultan 
be  forced  to  accept  them  and  carry  them  out  ?  or  should  they 
be  left  where  they  were  as  so  much  good  advice,  which  he 
might  take  or  reject  ?  England  was  in  favor  of  coercion,  but 
Russia  and  France  opposed  it.  Just  at  this  time  the  Liberal 
Government  in  England  resigned ;  the  Conservatives  came  in, 
with  a  practical  interregnum  until  after  the  elections  in  July. 
Lord  Salisbury  took  up  the  question  as  he  found  it.  Russia 
and  France  persisted  in  their  refusal  to  admit  of  the  use  of 
force,  and  gave  this  assurance  to  the  Sultan.  Still  the  three 
Powers  pressed  their  demands  diplomatically,  and  the  English 
fleet  came  into  the  vicinity  of  the  Dardanelles. 

Germany  expressed  her  sympathy  with  the  Sultan,  but  still 
advised  him  to  come  to  terms  with  the  three  Powers.  At  the 
end  of  September  came  the  outbreak  at  Constantinople  and 
the  massacre  of  some  two  hundred  Armenians  in  the  streets. 
Three  weeks  later  the  Sultan  accepted,  with  some  unimportant 
modifications,  the  scheme  of  reforms  presented  to  him  in 
May,  and  here  ended  the  alliance  of  England,  France  and 
Russia.  There  had  been  no  real  harmony  between  them  for 
some  time.  Russia  and  France  remained  in  it,  not  to  help  the 
Armenians,  but  to  control  the  action  of  England,  and,  if  pos- 
sible, prevent  her  sending  her  fleet  to  Constantinople.  Still 
there  was  no  positive,  acknowledged  break. 


3G0        Jnlernational  Politics  at  Constantinople, 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  massacres  at  Trebizond,  Ak 
Hissar,  Baiburt,  Giumushkhane,  Erzingan,  Diarbekir,  and 
other  places,  which  showed  that  the  situation  was  far  more 
grave  than  any  one  in  Europe  had  supposed.  The  excitement 
in  England  was  intense.  It  was  believed  that  there  was  a 
deliberate  purpose  to  exterminate  the  Armenians,  and  the 
English  Government  believed  that  armed  intervention  was 
necessary  to  dethrone  the  Sultan,  or  at  least  to  limit  his 
power.  Exactly  what  happened  between  the  first  of  October 
and  the  middle  of  November  between  the  Great  Powers  we  do 
not  know.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Germany  proposed 
to  England  to  join  the  Triple  Alliance,  in  which  case  the  four 
Powers  would  go  to  Constantinople  together. 

The  Policy  of  Do-Nothing. 

England  refused,  and  Germany  resented  it,  and  threw  all 
her  influence  into  the  scale  with  Russia.  At  this  point  was 
formed  the  Concert  of  the  Six  Powers,  which  was  simply  a 
mutual  agreement  that  no  Power  should  act  independently, 
and  all  the  fleets  gathered  in  the  ^gean  to  watch  each  other. 
By  the  end  of  December  it  was  evident  that  nothing  would 
be  done,  and  one  by  one  they  stole  silently  away,  leaving  the 
Sultan  apparently  master  of  the  situation.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  all  through  the  year  the  Sultan  showed  consummate  skill 
in  this  diplomatic  conflict,  and  a  better  knowledge  of  the 
situation  than  most  of  the  statesmen  concerned  in  it. 

Technically  he  won  the  battle.  England  has  been  beaten 
and  humiliated,  and  the  Sultan  is  in  close  alliance  with  Russia, 
France  and  Germany,  stronger,  if  he  can  trust  his  allies,  than 
ever  before.  The  Continental  Governments  have  had  a  per- 
fectly free  hand  in  this  conflict,  because  there  has  been  no 
popular  feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  Armenians.  The  Conti- 
nental press  has  cither  ignored  the  massacres,  or  represented 


International  Politics  at  Constantinople.       361 

them  as  due  to  the  revolutionary  spirit  of  the  Armenians. 
"  Anyway,"  they  have  said,  "  who  are  the  Armenians  ?  What 
interest  have  we  in  these  Asiatics  ?" 

But  can  the  Sultan  trust  his  allies  ?  In  fact  he  has  but 
one ;  France  and  Germany  are  simply  bidding  against  one 
another  for  the  friendship  of  Russia,  and  follow  her  lead  at 
Constantinople.  The  real  victor  in  this  conflict  is  not  Turkey, 
but  Russia — who  has  played  the  part  of  a  disinterested  friend 
of  the  Sultan  so  well  that  she  has,  for  the  first  time  in  history, 
driven  -England  off  the  field,  and  become  the  sole  protector 
of  the  Ottoman  Empire,  thus  realizing  the  dream  of  centuries. 
The  first  result  of  this  triumph  is  a  close  alliance  of  Russia 
with  Bulgaria,  Servia  and  Montenegro,  and  the  overthrow  of 
Austrian  influence  in  the  Balkan  Peninsula,  to  be  consum- 
mated this  week  at  Sofia. 

Supremacy  of  Russia. 

Russia  is  now  supreme  in  this  part  of  the  world,  and  can 
do  what  she  pleases.  What  she  will  do  with  her  newly- 
acquired  influence  remains  to  be  seen.  She  will  do  nothing 
for  the  Armenians.  That  is  certain.  She  has  not  professed 
any  interest  in  them.  She  has  before  her  three  possible 
courses  of  action  from  which  she  must  choose  one.  She  may 
seize  upon  the  present  opportunity,  the  best  she  has  ever  had, 
to  come  to  Constantinople,  first,  perhaps,  as  the  friend  and 
supporter  of  the  Sultan  ;  but,  anyway,  come  to  stay. 

The  alliance  with  the  Balkan  States  makes  this  easy,  even 
if  the  Sultan  should  be  inclined  to  resist.  But  he  will  not. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  stir  up  serious  trouble  in  Constanti- 
nople to  make  the  coming  appear  as  a  friendly  act  of  a  trusted 
ally.  If  no  effort  is  made  to  put  a  stop  to  the  troubles  in  the 
interior  or  here,  this  will  be  an  indication  that  this  plan  is  in 
favor  at  the  Russian  Embassy  here,  if  not  at  St.  Petersburg, 


362        International  Politics  at  Constantinople. 

and  may  be  realized  soon.  I  do  not  think  that  either  France 
or  Germany  would  object.  Austria  is  powerless  by  herself. 
Italy  would  be  glad  to  resist,  but  could  not.  England  is 
doing  her  best  now  to  persuade  herself  that  she  cares  nothing 
for  Constantinople. 

What  may  Happen. 

The  second  possibility  for  Russia  is  to  make  her  alliance 
with  Turkey  and  the  Balkan  States  as  agreeable  to  them  as 
possible,  to  do  her  best  to  restore  and  preserve  order,  and 
with  them  as  allies  to  guard  her  rear  and  flank,  to  attack 
Austria  and  bring  all  the  southern  Slavs  under  her  own  rule, 
or  at  least  under  her  protection.  This  is  the  dream  of  the 
Pan-Slavists,  who  are  the  strongest  and  most  active  party  in 
Russia.  This  would  mean  a  general  European  war ;  for  Ger- 
many and  Italy  are  bound  by  treaty  to  defend  Austria  from 
any  such  attack.  France  would  improve  her  opportunity  to 
recover  Alsace  and.  Lorraine.  England  pretends  to  believe 
that  the  old  Austrian  Alliance  is  no  longer  of  any  value  to 
'ler,  but  the  chances  are  that  she  would  become  involved  in 
such  a  war. 

The  third  possibility  for  Russia  is  to  maintain  the  present 
state  of  things  here,  to  continue  to  play  with  France  and  Ger- 
many, giving  encouragement  to  both,  and  securing  the  aid  of 
both  to  destroy  English  influence  in  China,  and  to  gain  a 
commanding  position  there  herself,  with  some  compensation 
to  France  and  Germany.  This  might  lead  to  a  war  with 
England. 

It  is  plain  that  Russia  cannot  do  more  than  one  of  these 
things,  and  to  decide  which  is  the  most  desirable  and  practi- 
cable will  demand  the  highest  statesmanship.  My  own  opinion 
is  that  no  deliberate  choice  will  be  made,  but  that,  as  in  most 
Russian  affairs,  the  decision  will  be  left   to  chance,  and  be 


International  Politics  at  Constantinople.       363 

determined  by  some  accident,  by  a  massacre  in  Constantino- 
ple, by  some  resentful  action  on  the  part  of  Austria  in  con- 
nection with  the  Balkan  States,  or  by  some  event  in  the  far 
East.  Russia  is  never  in  a  hurry.  The  Czar  has  determined 
to  have  grand  coronation  ceremonies  in  May,  and  will  hardly 
be  inclined  to  stir  up  trouble  anywhere  before  that  time. 

This  is  the  outlook  at  present.  I  am  not  a  prophet  to  fore- 
tell what  is  to  come  in  the  future,  and  I  know  ver}'-  well  that 
nothing  is  more  uncertain  than  the  ways  of  European  diplo- 
macy. The  Great  Powers  have,  each  of  them,  some  general 
ideas  of  what  they  consider  to  be  their  interests.  Each  has  a 
policy  of  some  kind.  But  now  that  the  telegraph  has  put  an 
end  to  all  independent  action  o'n  the  part  of  ambassadors,  and 
everything  is  managed  by  the  foreign  ministers — diplomacy 
has  become  a  hand-to-mouth  affair. 

Uncertainties  of  the  Situation. 

There  is  very  little  planning  for  the  future.  It  has  become 
an  axiom  that  it  is  time  enough  to  meet  a  difficulty  when  it 
arises.  Nothing  is  more  difficult  than  to  get  an  ambassador, 
or  a  foreign  minister  even,  to  express  an  opinion  on  what  he 
would  do  under  given  circumstances  next  week.  He  is  only 
too  happy  if  he  can  get  through  the  troubles  of  to-day.  In 
addition  to  this  there  are  special  reasons  for  uncertainty  at 
the  present  time  in  the  character  of  those  who  control  the 
action  of  the  Great  Powers.  The  Sultan,  to  begin  with,  has 
proved  himself  to  be  one  of  the  boldest  and  most  skillful  diplo- 
matists in  Europe;  and  his  point  of  view  is  so  totally  different 
from  that  of  Christian  rulers  that  no  one  can  calculate  in  what 
direction  it  will  lead  him. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  is  a  weak  man,  little  inclined  to 
rule  and  liable  to  be  influenced  now  by  one  party  and  now  by 
another.     The  Emperor  of  Germany  is  an  enigma — some  say 


364       International  Politics  at  Constantinople. 

a  genius,  some  say  a  madman — at  any  rate,  he  is  hasty  in  his 
decisions  and  has  the  most  absolute  confidence  in  himself. 
France  has  no  stable  government,  and  no  able  statesman. 
She  is  at  the  mercy  of  demagogues.  The  wisest  sovereign  in 
Europe  is  the  Emperor  of  Austria ;  but  he  may  die  any  day, 
and  his  successor  is  a  stick.  Lord  Salisbury  was  described 
by  Bismarck  as  not  a  man  of  iron,  but  a  man  of  wood  cov- 
ered with  tin  plates ;  and  his  conduct  of  the  Armenian 
.question  has  seemed  to  justify  this  view. 

The  English  Premier  Lost  his  Opportunity. 

Certainly  he  had  the  game  in  his  own  hands  up  to  the  last 
of  November,  and  if  he  had  had  the  courage  to  order  the 
fleet  to  force  the  Dardanelles  and  come  to  Constantinople  he 
would  have  won  the  day  and  gained  the  place  now  held  by 
Russia,  whose  complete  triumph  is  not  due  to  any  superio\ 
skill  in  diplomacy  either  here  or  at  St.  Petersburg,  but  simply 
to  Lord  Salisbury's  lack  of  courage  to  do  what  he  wished 
to  do. 

With  such  elements  of  uncertainty  in  the  methods  of  diplo- 
macy and  in  the  men  who  direct  it,  it  would  be  folly  to 
venture  upon  any  predictions  for  the  future.  Things  may 
drift  on  for  months  or  years  very  much  as  they  are  to-day,  or 
some  unforeseen  incident  may  change  the  whole  face  of  Europe. 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

The  Blot  on  the  Century. 

BY  FRANCIS  E.  CLARK,  D.D.,  ( 

President  of  the  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 

The  Armenian  problem  is  by  no  means  a  new  one,  though 
it  has  reached  its  acgte  stages  only  within  the  last  three  years. 
Had  there  been  no  atrocities  in  Sivas  and  Harput,  no  massa- 
cres in  Marash  and  Cesarea,  there  would  still  be  abundant 
reason  for  the  indignant  remonstrance  of  the  civilized  world, 
and  for  the  interference  of  the  Great  Powers  in  behalf  of  long- 
suffering  Armenia. 

The  rule  of  the  Turk  is  hopelessly  and  remedilessly  bad . 
wherever  that  rule  extends.  The  mildew  and  blight  of  his 
occupation  are  found  wherever  the  Star  and  Crescent  wave. 
Just  as  truly  as  in  the  olden  days,  destruction  and  desolation 
were  left  in  the  wake  of  the  victorious  "  horse-tails  "  of  the 
triumphant  Sultans,  so  now  desolation  and  destruction  are 
left  in  the  retreating  wake  of  the  decadent  and  conquered 
Sultan. 

The  history  of  six  hundred  years  teaches  us  that  it  is  of 
little  use  to  talk  about  mending  the  reign  of  the  Turk.  There 
is  nothing  left  but  to  end  it.  To  mend  it  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion; to  end  it  is  the  only  hope  for  Moslem  and  Christianalike 
who  dwell  within  the  Sultan's  domains. 

We  hear  less  about  the  tribulations  of  the  Syrians  and  the 
Arabs  of  Palestine  and  other  parts  of  the  Levant  than  of  the 
dreadful  fate  of  the  Armenians :  but  their  troubles  are  none 

365 


366  The  Blot  on  the  Century. 

the  less  real,  even  if  they  do  not  so  much  excite  the  horror 
of  the  civilized  world. 

Throuj^hout  a  large  section  of  the  fairest  part  of  the  earth's 
surface  business  enterprise  and  intellectual  progress,  to  say 
nothing  of  religious  freedom,  have  long  been  dead.  In  the 
fair  lands  which  border  on  the  Mediterranean,  lands  which 
•should  be  the  garden  spots  of  the  earth,  there  is,  and  has 
been  for  many  generations,  poverty,  wretchedness  and  squalor, 
which  can  hardly  be  credited  in  lands  that  are  better  governed. 

Naturally  the  character  of  the  people  has  deteriorated,  and 
a  hopeless  fatalism  or  cunning  mendacity,  which  seeks  to  win 
by  deceit  what  it  cannot  gain  by  fairer  methods,  has  become 
characteristic  of  the  people.  In  fact,  whether  we  consider  the 
character  of  the  people,  the  soil  on  which  they  live,  the 
houses  that  cover  them,  or  the  institutions  by  which  they  are 
misgoverned,  we  find  that  the  trail  of  the  Turk  is  over  them  all. 

The  traveler  through  Palestine  cannot  but  be  impressed  by 
these  facts  ;  still  more  he  who  takes  the  overland  journey 
across  Asia  Minor,  where  the  Turk  has  had  more  full  and 
undisputed  sway. 

Great  Natural  Resources. 

He  will  find  himself  in  a  land  of  great  natural  resources 
and  large  possibilities ;  a  land  with  a  fertile  soil,  and  exhaust- 
less  mines  of  precious  metals  ;  a  land  of  rushing  rivers  and 
bold  and  rugged  mountain  scenery.  When  the  Turk  is 
deposed  and  some  decent  Government  establishes  its  sway  in 
Asia  Minor,  we  shall  read  of  Cook's  Parties  and  Gaze's 
Tourists  in  the  magnificent  land  of  the  Taurus.  The  Cilician 
gates  will  be  open  to  the  traveler,  though  for  many  years  they 
have  been  practically  closed  by  the  inefficient  shiftlessness  of 
a  Government  which  taxes  the  people  to  death  for  roads  which 
are  never  built,  and  bridges  which  are  never  constructed. 


The  Blot  on  the  Century.  367 

Then  the  mines  which,  with  their  hidden  treasures,  have 
been  sealed  to  all  enterprise,  will  pour  their  wealth  into  the 
world's  coffers.  But  now  the  Turk  reasons,  with  character- 
istic phlegm,  that  so  long  as  the  mines  are  undisturbed  the 
wealth  of  the  nation  is  intact,  and  he  does  not  propose  to 
allow  outer  barbarians  to  come  in  and  open  up  mines  and  cart 
off  his  treasures  of  gold  and  silver.  This  is  carrying  the 
stocking-leg  theory  of  finance  to  its  absurdest  limits.  To  be 
sure  the  traveler  finds  one  feeble,  struggling  little  railway  on 
die  Mediterranean  coast  of  Turkey  from  Mersin  to  Adana, 
jI  disf  inc")  of  about  forty  miles.  It  was  built  by  foreign 
capital,  liowever,  and  is  managed  by  foreign  enterprise,  and 
has  been  hampered  and  taxed  almost  off  the  face  of  the  earth 
by  the  ruling  Turk. 

Difficulties  of  Travel. 

There  is  also  a  passable  wagon-road  for  Turkey  for  a  few 
miles  from  Tarsus  toward  the  Cilician  gates ;  but  this  passable 
road  soon  runs  into  an  almost  impassable  cart-track,  the  cart- 
track  degenerates  into  a  camel  path,  and  though  the  camel 
path  does  not  exactly  "  run  up  a  tree,*'  it  seems  to  lose  itself 
when  it  gets  to  the  most  inaccessible  portions  of  the  Taurus 
Mountains,  or  at  least  is  fit  only  for  the  sure-footed  "  ships  of 
the  desert "  that  continually  traverse  it  with  their  swaying 
loads  and  their  tinkling  bells.  The  only  bridges  in  many 
parts  of  the  country  are  those  built  by  the  Romans  eighteen 
hundred  years  ago  so  substantially  and  so  scientifically  that 
the  war  of  the  elements  arid  the  neglect  of  the  Turk  for 
twenty  centuries  has  not  been  able  to  destroy  them. 

It  should  be  said  that  this  road,  which  .starts  from  Tarsus, 
comes  to  light  here  and  there  during  the  hundreds  of  miles 
which  lie  between  the  birthplace  of  St.  Paul  and  the  ancient 
city  of  Angora,  in  old  Galatia ;  but  it  as  often  gets  lost  again 


868  The  Blot  on  the  Century. 

or  is  obstructed  and  rendered  impassable  by  falling  trees  and 
descending  bowlders,  which  no  one  has  energy  enough  to 
move  out  of  the  way.  And  yet  this  road  is  the  excuse  for 
wringing  tens  of  thousands  of  pounds  every  year  out  of  the 
poverty-stricken  inhabitants.  To  be  sure  the  money  is  not 
expended  upon  the  road,  and  every  year  it  is  falling  into  a 
more  utterly  impassable  condition ;  but  no  matter,  it  furnishes 
an  excuse  for  yearly  taxes  and  for  more  misgovernment. 

Stone  Huts  for  Hotels. 

There  are  no  hotels  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  or  inns,  even, 
of  the  humblest  character  along  this  highway,  which  is  the 
only  artery  between  Constantinople  and  the  Mediterranean 
ports ;  but  there  are  stone  huts  called  khans,  in  which  men 
and  bullocks  and  camels  and  asses  may  rest  their  wearied 
bodies  in  delightful  promiscuity,  while  all  are  impartially 
attacked  by  other  occupants  that  are  not  recorded  in  the 
census,  and  are  not  registered  upon  the  books  even  of  a 
Turkish  khan. 

For  much  of  the  distance  along  this  highway  every  tree 
and  shrub  and  root  has  been  plucked  up  to  furnish  a  little 
scanty  fuel  for  the  shivering  inhabitants.  The  broad  stretches 
of  tableland,  naturally  fertile,  are  so  poorly  tilled  with  the 
rude  implements  of  the  past,  that  only  a  scanty  population 
can  be  maintained,  and  these  at  "  a  poor  dying  rate,"  where 
millions  might  thrive  under  a  good  Government. 

The  villages  in  the  interior  are,  for  the  most  part,  built  of 
sun-dried  mud,  though  sometimes  of  stone,  and  are  filthy 
and  squalid  beyond  all  description — dead  sheep  and  donkeys 
and  camels  lying  in  the  streets.  I  have  myself  counted  in 
one  street  of  a  little  village  more  than  a  dozen  dead  animals, 
which  the  inhabitants  were  too  unenterprising  to  bury  or  to 
haul  away. 


The  Blot  on  the  Century.  369 

Very  naturally,  all  enterprise  and  energy  are  killed'  out  of 
such  a  people  by  hundreds  of  years  of  misrule  and  oppres- 
sion. Why  should  a  man  strive  to  get  on  in  the  world,  when 
he  knows  that  he  will  only  make  himself  by  his  enterprise 
the  special  prey  of  the  oppressor  ?  Why  should  he  plant  an 
orchard  of  superior  fruit,  when  he  knows  the  tax-gatherer 
will  get  the  best  of  it  ?  Why  should  he  try  to  improve  his 
worldly  condition  in  any  way,  when  he  knows  that  unless  he 
can  cover  up  his  wealth  and  simulate  poverty,  he  will  but 
become  the  target  for  every  corrupt  and  unscrupulous  official  ? 

A  Land  Picked  to  the  Bone. 

The  land  of  Turkey  has  been  picked  bare ;  even  the  pin 
feathers  of  enterprise,  if  we  may  be  excused  the  expression, 
have  been  singed  off  by  a  rapacious  officialism  during  many 
generations. 

And  now  these  centuries  of  atrocious  misrule  and  almost 
inconceivable  corruption  are  crowned  by  the  murder  and  the 
pillage  and  the  wholesale  massacres,  which  have  caused  the 
blood  of  civilization  to  run  cold,  outrages  that  will  mark  the 
years  of  1895-96  with  such  blots  as  no  other  years  have 
known  for  many  centuries.  Yet  the  civilized  world  allows 
the  Great  Powers,  each  disarmed  against  the  Turk  by  their 
mutual  jealousies,  to  look  on  supinely  while  the  butchery  in 
Armenia  never  ceases.  Still,  the  Queen's  speech,  read  at  the 
opening  of  Parliament  in  the  year  1896,  talks  gingerly  about 
the  Sultan's  promises  to  institute  reforms,  while  very  likely, 
at  the  very  moment  when  her  speech  was  read,  the  Sultan's 
hirelings  were  murdering  Christians,  pillaging  their  property 
and  firing  their  villages  ! 

What  will  our  grandchildren  think  of  the  boasted  civiliza- 
tion of  the  nineteenth  century?  How  v/ill  the  people  of  the 
happier  age  which  is  to  come,  look  back  with  shuddering 


370  The  Blot  on  the  Century. 

horror,  not  only  upon  the  deeds  enacted  in  Turkey,  but,  with 
scarcely  less  horror,  upon  the  Christian  nations,  who,  by 
reason  of  their  insane  jealousy  of  one  another,  permitted 
those  atrocities,  which  they  might  have  prevented. 

Alas,  that  this  century  should  be  known  not  only  as  the 
century  of  invention  and  discovery,  of  the  railway  and  the 
steamship,  and  the  telegraph,  and  the  telephone, — the  century 
of  religious  progress  and  missionary  enterprise, — the  century 
of  the  Sunday-school,  and  the  young  people's  movements, 
but  also  the  century,  stained  with  the  deepest  dye  of  Christian 
blood  of  which  the  great  Christian  Powers  can  never  wash 
their  hands ! 

God  grant  that  before  the  record  of  the  century  is  closed, 
before  the  Armenians  are  utterly  exterminated,  and  no  faith- 
ful Christians  in  Asia  Minor  are  left  to  rescue,  Europe  and 
America  may  awake  to  their  responsibilities  and  tardily  save 
'■-hemselves  from  the  reproachful  scorn  of  future  generations. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  Armenians — Who  are  They? 

BY  JAMES    D.  BARTON,  D.D., 
Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commusioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

According  to  Armenian  histories,  the  first  chief  of  the 
Armenians  was  Haik,  the  son  of  Togarmah,  the  son  of  Co- 
rner, the  son  of  Japheth,  the  son  of  Noah.  It  is  an  interest- 
ing fact  that  the  Armenians  to  this  day  call  themselves  Haik, 
their  language  "  Haiaren "  and  their  country  "  Haiasdan." 
"  Armenia "  and  "  Armenian  "  are  words  which  cannot  be 
spelled  with  Armenian  characters  or  easily  pronounced  by 
Jiat  people.  That  name  was  given  them  and  Iheir  country 
by  outside  nations  because  of  the  prowess  of  one  of  their 
kings,  Aram,  the  seventh  from  Haik. 

Probably  this  people  is  composed  of  the  resultant  of  strong 
Aryan  tribes  overrunning  and  conquering  the  country  now 
occupied  by  the  Armenians,  and  which  was  then  possessed 
by  primitive  Turanian  populations.  Subject  to  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  conquest  and  invasion,  the  borders  of  Armenia  have 
fluctuated.  Lake  Van  has  always  been  within  the  kingdom, 
and  the  capital  has  usually  remained,  during  their  highest 
prosperity  at  the  city  of  Van.  They  have  had  a  long  line  of 
kings  of  valor  and  renown. 

They  were  an  independent  nation,  but  with  varying  degrees 
of  power,  until  a.  d.  1375,  when  they  became  completely  a 
subject  people.  Since  that  time  their  country  has  been  under 
the  Governments  of  Russia,  Persia  and  Turkey,  far  the  larger 
portion  being  in  Turkey.      During  the  years  of  their  greatest 

371 


372  The  Armenians — Who  are  Theyf 

prosperity,  from  6oo  b.  c.  to  about  400  A.  d,,  this  nation  played 
a  prominent  part  in  the  wars  of  the  Assyrians,  Medes,  Per- 
sians, Greeks  and  Romans. 

There  are,  perhaps,  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  millions 
of  Armenians  in  Turkey,  Russia  and  Persia.  In  the  absence 
of  accurate  records  we  must  be  content  with  a  mere  estimate, 
based  upon  observations  and  inadequate  Government  returns. 
In  no  extended  district  do  they  comprise  a  majority  of  the 
inhabitants.  They  are  everywhere  mingled  with  and  sur- 
rounded by  Kurds  and  Turks.  The  Armenians  are  forbidden 
to  carry  or  possess  arms  under  severe  penalties,  while  the 
other  races  are  armed,  many  of  them  by  the  Government. 

First  Nation  to  Adopt  Christianity. 

Armenian  histories  relate  that,  soon  after  the  resurrection 
of  Christ,  Abgar,  the  King  of  Armenia,  with  his  court, 
accepted  Christianity.  This  was  short-lived,  however  ;  but  in 
the  third  century,  a.  d.,  under  the  leadership  of  Gregory  the 
Illuminator,  the  Armenian  people,  as  a  nation,  became  Chris- 
tian. This  was  the  first  nation  to  adopt  Christianity  as  a 
national  religion.  The  Church  was  called  "  Gregorian  "  by 
those  outside,  but  "  Loosavochagan  "  by  the  Armenians,  the 
word  meaning  "  Illuminator,"  the  name  given  to  Gregory. 
The  Gregorians  and  Greeks  worked  in  harmony  in  the  great 
councils  of  the  Church  until  451.  At  the  fourth  Ecumenical 
Council,  which  met  at  Chalcedon  that  year,  the  Gregorian 
Church  separated  from  the  Greek  upon  the  so-called  Mono- 
physite  doctrine,  the  former  accepting  and  the  latter  rejecting 
it.  Since  then  the  Gregorian  Church  has  been  distinctly  and 
exclusively  an  Armenian  national  Church. 

The  organization  and  control  of  the  Church  is  essentially 
Episcopal.  The  spiritual  head  is  a  Catholicos ;  but  in  addi- 
tion to  him  there  is  a  Patriarch,  whose  office  bears  largely 


The  Armenians — Who  are  They?  373 

upon  the  political  side  of  the  national  life  as  related  to  the 
Ottoman  Government.  There  are  three  of  the  former  residing 
in  the  order  of  their  importance  at  Echmiadzin,  in  Russia; 
Aghtamar,  on  an  island  in  Lake  Van,  and  at  Sis,  in  Cilicia, 
each  with  his  own  diocese.  There  are  two  of  the  latter 
residing  at  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem.  There  are  nine 
grades  of  Armenian  clergy. 

The  Bible  was  translated  into  their  language  in  the  middle 
of  the  fifth  century.  Owing  to  a  change  in  the  spoken  tongue 
the  Bible  became  a  dead  book  to  the  people,  although  it  was 
constantly  read  at  their  church  services.  As  the  priests 
scarcely  ever  understood  the  Scripture  which  they  read» 
Christian  doctrines  were  kept  alive  by  oral  teachings ;  but  the 
restraint  upon  life  which  pure  Christianity  exercises  was  largely 
removed.  They  blindly  accept  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God. 
They  have  many  large,  fine  churches,  some  of  which  are  sev- 
eral hundred  years  old. 

Centuries  of  Persecution. 

This  nation  has  suffered  great  persecutions  for  its  faith 
during  the  last  eleven  centuries,  but  with  wonderful  patience 
and  endurance  has  clung  to  the  old  beliefs  and  forms  o^ 
worship.  Mission  work  was  begun  among  them  for  the  pur- 
pose of  introducing  into  the  Church  the  Bible  in  the  spoken 
language  of  the  people,  in  order  that  its  teachings  might 
reform  the  Church  and  the  nation. 

The  Armenian  nature  is  essentially  religious.  Born  into 
the  Church,  its  customs,  traditions  and  teachings  have  large 
influence  over  the  life.  Although  much  of  their  teachings 
and  many  of  their  customs  are  based  upon  mere  traditions  and 
are  not  in  accord  with  the  enlightened,  educated  Christianity 
of  the  West,  nevertheless  the  fact  that  during  the  last  few 
months    thousands  among  them   have   deliberately  choseq 


374  The  Armenians — Who  are  They? 

death,  with  terrible   torture,  to  life  and    Islam,  shows   that 
among  them  there  exists  much  essential  Christian  faith. 

It  must  not  be  overlooked  that  the  old  Church  has  been 
greatly  enlightened  and  elevated  by  the  mission  schools  and 
colleges  planted  in  their  country,  and  the  evangelistic  work 
carried  on  among  them.  They,  too,  in  imitation  of  the  evan- 
gelical branch  of  their  nation,  have  organized  schools, 
accepted  the  Bible  in  the  spoken  language,  and  introduced 
into  their  church  worship  many  of  the  methods  of  Christian 
instruction  used  by  the  Christian  Church  all  over  the  world. 

An  Armenian  Proverb. 

The  Armenians'  greatest  enemy  outside  of  Islam  is  their 
incompatibility  of  character.  They  cannot  agree  among 
themselves.  '^  Haik  voch  miapait"  ("Armenians  cannot 
agree")  is  one  of  their  many  proverbs.  This  is  their  national 
weakness.  Owing  to  this  fact,  which  led  to  internal  jealousies 
and  bickerings  and  strife,  during  the  period  of  their  most  suc- 
cessful national  life,  they  were  weakened,  then  disrupted,  and 
finally  completely  subjugated.  This  characteristic  has  con- 
stantly appeared  in  the  management  of  their  ecclesiastical 
affairs ;  and  the  Turks,  in  order  to  control  them,  have  made 
great  use  of  this  weakness,  playing  one  party  off  against 
another. 

The  source  of  this  national  weakness  lies  in  their  jealousy 
of  imagined  or  actual  rivals.  Suspicious  of  each  other  and 
jealous  of  competition,  the  race  has  been  broken  up  into  fac- 
tions which  has  rendered  impossible  anything  like  a  national 
growth  or  unity,  and  has  made  it  easy  for  the  ruling  Turk  to 
keep  them  in  complete  subjection.  Many  times  the  Arme- 
nians themselves  have  been  the  most  effective  instrument  in 
the  hands  of  their  diplomatic  rulers  in  checking  national 
progress. 


The  Armenians — Who  are  Theyf  375 

Owing  to  this  fact,  if  for  no  other  reason,  a  plan  for  a  general 
revolution  upon  the  part  of  the  Armenians  could  lead  only  to 
exposure  and  failure.  The  most  intelligent  have  from  the 
first  fully  understood  this,  and  have  deprecated  any  agitation 
which  must  necessarily  end  in  disaster.  The  advocates  of 
revolution  have  almost  invariably  been  men  of  narrow  views, 
with  no  leadership  in  the  nation  at  large,  who  have,  outside 
of  Turkey,  organized  rival  societies  to  collect  money  from 
credulous  Armenians  to  the  credit  of  their  own  personal  bank 
account,  and  for  the  injury  of  their  protesting  people  in 
Turkey.  This  same  characteristic  would  make  it  impossible 
to-day  for  the  Armenians  to  be  self-governing. 

The  Armenians  are  the  most  intelligent  of  all  the  people  of 
Eastern  Turkey.  In  Western  Turkey  their  only  rivals  are 
the  Greeks.  They  far  outclass  their  Mohammedan  rulers  in 
the  desire  for  general  and  liberal  education,  and  in  their  ability 
to  attain  to  genuine  scholarship.  During  the  last  twenty 
years  few  institutions  of  higher  education  in  the  United  States 
and  in  England  have  failed  to  have  Armenians  among  their 
pupils,  and  the  rank  which  they  have  usually  taken  is  most 
creditable  to  the  race. 

The  popularity  of  Euphrates  College,  in  HarpM,  and  of 
Central  Turkey  College,  at  Aintab,  whose  students  are  almost 
exclusively  Armenians,  as  well  as  Anatolia  College,  at  Mar- 
so  van,  and  Robert  College,  at  Constantinople,  which  have 
many  Armenians  among  their  students,  taken  together  with 
the  fact  that  large  sums  are  paid  each  year  by  the  people  for 
the  education  of  their  sons  and  daughters,  all  proves  that,  in 
addition  to  the  ability  to  advance  mentally,  there  is  a  strong 
desire  upon  the  part  of  the  Armenians  for  general  enlighten- 
ment. Bilingual  from  childhood,  and  many  of  them  trilingual, 
they  learn  languages  easily. 

Their  general  tendency  is  to  prefer  metaphysical  studies, 


376  The  Armenians — Who  are  They  9 

being  inclined  rather  to  the  speculative  in  their  manner  of 
thought.  They  have  taken  readily  to  the  idea  of  female 
education,  and  the  three  colleges  for  girls  in  Turkey  are 
among  her  most  popular  evangelical  institutions.  These  are 
largely  patronized  by  the  Armenians.  This  nation  has  pro- 
duced many  well-known  scholars,  which  fact,  taken  together 
with  the  general  high  standard  of  scholarship  among  her 
students,  and  the  eager  desire  prevalent  among  the  people  for 
a  liberal  education,  shows  that  the  race  intellectually  compares 
favorably  with  the  most  favored  nations  of  the  world- 

An  Enterprising  Race. 

The  Armenians  are  the  farmers,  artisans,  tradesmen  and 
bankers  of  Eastern  Turkey.  They  have  strong  commercial 
instincts  and  mature  ability,  and,  being  industrious  withal, 
have  made  much  progress  in  all  these  Tines.  In  spite  of  the 
heavy  restrictions  placed  upon  them  by  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment, in  the  form  of  general  regulations  and  excessive  taxes, 
in  some  parts  of  Turkey  the  leading  business  operations  are 
largely  in  their  hands.  In  some  sections  of  the  vilayets  of 
Harput  and  Diarbekir,  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  land  was 
owned  almost  entirely  by  Moslems,  but  rented  and  farmed  by 
the  Armenians. 

At  that  time  the  Armenians  were  not  permitted  to  possess, 
to  any  extent,  the  soil.  Lack  of  industry  upon  the  part  of 
the  Mohammedans,  and  the  acquirement  of  property  upon 
the  part  of  the  Armenians,  largely  by  emigration  to  the  United 
States,  have  led  the  Turks  to  sell  their  ancient  estates  to 
Armenians,  who  are  supplied  with  funds  from  their  friends 
who  are  working  in  this  country.  The  careful  management 
of  the  property  thus  acquired  led  to  the  advancement  of  the 
oroprietor  farmer,  while  the  one  from  whom  the  land  was 
purchased  was  left  without  an  income. 


The  Armeniaits — Who  are  They?  377 

While  the  Turks,  in  many  of  the  principal  cities  where 
Armenians  dwell,  own  most  of  the  shops,  the  renters  are 
largely  Armenians.  An  intelligent  Turkish  Governor  once 
told  the  writer  that  if  the  Armenians  should  suddenly  emi- 
grate or  be  expelled  from  Eastern  Turkey,  the  Moslem  would 
necessarily  follow  soon,  as  there  was  not  enough  commercial 
enterprise  and  ability  coupled  with  industry  in  the  Turkish 
population  to  meet  the  absolute  needs  of  the  people. 

Readily  Adapts  Himself. 

The  Armenian,  while  industrious  and  naturally  inclined  to 
follow  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father,  takes  very  readily  to  a 
new  trade.  When  emigrating  to  foreign  countries  he  easily 
adapts  himself  to  his  new  surroundings  and  does  creditable 
service  in  almost  any  line  of  work.  This  adaptability, 
together  with  a  tendency  to  hold  on  to  a  line  once  begun,  has 
given  a  stable  character  to  the  nation. 

The  Armenian  is  domestic  in  his  habits  and  aspirations, 
and  not  military.  In  the  early  history  of  the  race  we  do  not 
find  much  written  of  their  conquests.  They  did  not  go  out- 
side of  their  borders,  as  a  general  thing,  to  conquer  their 
neighbors.  While  not  lacking  in  physical  courage  and  prow- 
ess in  war  when  called  to  defend  their  country  against  inva- 
sion, they  did  not  seek  to  conquer.  Sometimes  in  driving 
back  an  aggressive  foe  they  carried  the  war  into  his  territory 
and  levied  upon  it  for  injuries  received  ;  yet  it  never  seems  to 
have  been  their  ambition  to  be  a  great  nation  ruling  over 
conquered  races.  Their  chief  ambition  appears  to  have  been 
to  possess  in  quiet  their  beloved  fatherland,  "  hairenik"  where 
they  might  worship  God  according  to  the  demands  of  their 
own  national  Church. 

To-day  they  have  no  desire  of  conque.st  or  ambition  to 
rule.     Their  greatest  wish  is  to  be  permitted  to  enjoy  without 


378  The  Armenians — Who  are  Theyf 

fear  the  blessing  of  their  simple  domestic  life,  together  with 
the  privileges  of  worship  and  education  and  the  oppoitunity 
to  possess  in  peace  the  fruits  of  their  frugal  industry.  The 
Armenian  loves  his  children  and  is  most  closely  attached  to 
his  home.  When  he  emigrates  it  is  only  for  the  purpose  of 
trade  and  gain.  His  heart's  affection  centers  in  the  old  rude 
home  to  which  he,  if  unprevented,  will  return  to  rejoin  his 
loved  ones.  In  all  his  native  land  the  city  or  village  of  his 
birth  is  the  dearest  spot  on  earth. 

Habits  and  Characteristics. 

The  Armenians  are  most  simple  and  frugal  in  their  manner 
of  life.  Uncomplaining  and  generally  cheerful,  they  continue 
their  occupations,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  their  fathers 
without  desire  for  change.  The  son  of  the  carpenter  is  a  car- 
penter content  with  the  adz  and  saw,  and  the  shoemaker 
sticks  to  his  last  without  a  thought  of  being  anything  else  sc, 
long  as  that  trade  serves  him.  The  home  life  is  patriarchal, 
the  father  ruling  the  household,  and  the  sons  bringing  their 
wives  to  the  paternal  roof 

In  the  event  of  the  death  of  the  father  the  oldest  son  takes 
his  place  at  the  head  of  the  family.  The  aged  are  held  in 
high  esteem,  and  their  counsel  sought  and  honored.  The 
women  occupy  inferior  positions,  the  nation  copying  many 
customs  in  regard  to  them  from  the  Turks  among  whom  they 
live.  They  are  not  an  immoral  race,  but  are  inclined  to  drink 
wine  which  is  a  cheap  product  of  their  country. 

Thus  we  have  a  race  old  in  national  history  when  Alexan- 
der invaded  the  East ;  and  with  its  star  of  Empire  turning 
toward  decline  when  the  Caesars  were  at  the  height  of  their 
power;  a  nation  not  mingling  in  marriage  with  men  and 
women  of  another  faith  and  blood  now  as  pure  in  its  descent 
from  the  undiscovered  ancestors  of  nearly  three  decades  of 


The  Armenians — Who  are  They  9  379 

centuries  ago  as  the  Hebrews  stand  unmixed  with  Gentile 
blood  ;  with  a  language,  a  literature,  a  national  Church,  dis- 
tinctively its  own,  and  yet  a  nation  without  a  country,  without 
a  government,  without  a  protector  or  a  friend  in  all  God's 
world. 

This  is  not  because  it  has  sinned,  but  because  it  has  been 
terribly  sinned  against;  not  because  of  its  intellectual  or 
moral  or  physical  weakness,  but  because  it  has  little  to  offer  ^ 
in  return  for  the  service,  which  the  common  brotherhood  of 
man  among  nations  should  prompt  the  Christian  nations  of 
the  world  to  render. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

The  Turkish  Question  in  Germany. 

BY  THE  COUNTESS  VON  KROCKOW. 

Was  it  Lord  Palmerston  who  said  of  the  Schleswig-Holstein 
war,  now  over  thirty  years  ago,  that  nobody  understood  the 
cause  of  it  but  himself,  and  he  was  not  sure  ?  I  remember 
reading  the  anecdote  and  retain  this  gist  of  it,  which  is,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  the  gist  of  a  large  number  of  political  problems, 
the  Turkish  question  included,  although  few  statesmen  are  so" 
outspoken  as  to  own  their  ignorance  and  confusion  in  the 
face  of  it. 

In  Germany,  during  the  recent  disturbances  in  the  Ottoman 
Empire,  no  one  even  set  up  as  a  seer ;  nor  did  any  one  go  so 
far  as  to  try  to  demonstrate  the  enormity  of  the  crimes  going 
on,  as  was  the  case  in  America  and  England,  or  denounce 
them,  as  did  Gladstone,  with  weight  and  power.  Not  only 
light  was  conspicuously  wanting,  but  passion  likewise.  The 
young  Emperor,  who  is  superficially  considered  a  hot-headed 
champion  in  all  current  matters,  was  silent  upon  this.  None 
of  the  many  words  which  he  uttered  in  public  was  spent  on 
the  massacres  of  Armenian  Christians. 

What  went  out  of  his  Cabinet  to  the  press  of  the  country 
was  ambiguous  or  cynical  in  tone.  The  people  were  left 
without  any  clear  or  sharp  impression  either  as  to  what  was 
desired  by  the  Ministry  or  what  was  being  pursued  by  it.  Its 
inaction  during  most  of  the  time,  its  cross-actions  on  occasion 
— as  when  it  refused  to  support  England  and  Russia  in  the 
880 


The  Turkish  Question  in   Germany,  381 

request  to  the  Porte  to  permit  extra  vessels  of  war  to  enter 
the  Bosphorus — its  evident  intriguing  as  time  went  on,  alone 
gave  the  people  a  hint  that  its  policy  was,  for  the  present  at 
least,  a  policy  of  non-intervention. 

Political  Parties  in  Germany. 

Why  this  policy  was  adopted,  native  Germans  understand 
as  little  as  foreigners  understand  it.  They  are  as  much  in  the 
dark  over  the  attitude  taken  by  His  Majesty's  Government  as 
outsiders  are.  In  the  Imperial  Diet  no  interpellation  has  been 
made  on  the  subject ;  and  if  one  were  ever  proposed,  it  has 
been  suppressed  before  it  reached  a  stage  that  rendered  the 
proposition  a  fit  subject  for  public  attention  or  scandal.  Very 
probably  no  such  proposition  was  ever  broached  or  supported. 
For  who  should  make  it  save  the  Opposition  ?  And  what 
does  the  Opposition  consist  of  in  Germany?  Of  Socialists 
and  Liberals,  or  of  men  who  are  opposed  by  principle  to  war 
and  State  religions,  and  of  the  advocates  of  trade. 

When  the  impulsive  public  in  America  feel  moved  to 
wonder  over  the  apathy  of  the  Germans  before  this  grave  and 
horrible  spectacle  going  on  in  the  Christian  East,  they  should 
recall  to  mind,  in  order  the  better  to  apprehend  it,  certain  far- 
reaching  historical  facts.  Among  these  facts,  for  example,  is 
the  important  one  of  religion  having  taken  on  the  form  of  an 
established  Church  and,  in  the  main,  this  Church  has  been 
subservient  through  its  ministers  to  the  powers  that  be.  Now 
these  latter  powers  were,  until  a  recent  period,  many  and 
oppressive.  Hence,  when  antagonism  raised  itself,  it  raised 
itself  against  both  the  State  and  the  Church. 

There  are  six  million  Socialists  in  Germany — working  men 
and  women,  factory  hands,  artisans,  petty  burghers,  the  poor 
and  ill-to-do  of  many  classes ;  and  this  vast  factor  in  the 
population  disparage  contesting  with  the  brutal  might  of  arms 


382  The  Turkish  Question  in   Germany. 

over  religion,  and,  in  the  Turkish  question,  which  is  largely  a 
matter  of  religion,  they  logically  express  deprecation  of  both 
contestants — Christians  and  Mussulmans.  The  Evangelical 
Synod  in  Berlin  expels  a  pastor  (the  Rev.  Dr.  Naumann)  for 
advocating  Social  Reform  through  Socialistic  means;  in 
response,  the  Socialistic  multitude  point  in  derision  to  holy 
synods  that  go  further,  and,  for  a  difference  in  doctrinal 
opinion,  cause  the  exile  of  whole  communities,  or  their  tor- 
ture and  death,  cause  a  Turkish  question  with  all  that  it  implies ! 

Sympathy  for  Armenians. 

There  is  indubitably  private,  intense  sympathy  among  this 
class  for  the  sufferers  in  Armenia ;  but  publicly  and  officially 
all  expression  of  it  is  excluded.  The  Socialists  this  very  year 
have  been  schooled  and  trained  in  repression  of  natural 
feeling;  they  took  no  part  in  the  jubilations  over  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Empire  and  the  commemoration  of  the  victory 
of  Sedan  ;  much  less,  therefore,  could  their  leaders  call  upon 
them  to  take  part  in  our  foreign  contests.  And  without  Social- 
ists and  their  families,  who  compose  in  every  large  city  the  bulk 
of  the  street  population,  how  were  the  German  mass-meetings, 
that  Englishmen  and  Americans  have  missed,  to  take  place  ? 

The  Church,  the  press,  I  hear  my  reader  exclaiming,  have 
they  no  bowels  ?     Is  everything  in  the  hands  of  Socialists  ? 

It  would  be  absurd  of  me  to  pretend  to  know  the  reasons 
for  the  attitude  of  the  Church  ;  or,  indeed,  of  any  one  of  the 
great  organizations  that  I  am  passing  in  review  in  treating  of 
the  question  that  interests  us.  I  take  the  opportunity  here 
of  stating  that  all  my  explications  are  mere  attempts  to 
account  for  the  apathy  which  constitutes  the  characteristic 
demeanor  of  Germans  towards  the  Turkish  troubles.  If 
single  clergymen  here  and  there  throughout  the  country  have 
lifted  up  their  voices  in  protest  against  this  apathy,  their  pro- 


The  Turkish   Question  in   Germany.  383 

testations  have  been  without  great  effect.  This  is  all  that  a 
private  observer  of  affairs,  like  myself,  can  affirm  with  safety. 
It  is  common  for  the  Church,  as  a  body,  not  to  run  counter 
to  the  Government ;  and  the  Government's  position  of  neu- 
trality once  having  become  evident,  it  would  have  been  unpre- 
cedented for  the  Church  to  have  opposed  this  policy  by  actively 
striving  to  arouse  the  public  conscience  to  antagonism  against 
it.  In  being  subject  to  the  State,  the  Church  is  practically  on 
all  occasions  subject  to  the  governmentar  will ;  and  what  may 
be  called  the  Non-conformist  body  of  Christians  in  Germany 
have  nothing  like  the  vigor  and  public  spirit  of  English  Non- 
conformists. I  would  like  to  leave  this  chapter  to  more 
competent  hands.  As  a  layman,  the  thought  suggests  itself. 
And  are  not  clergymen  also  citizens  and  susceptible  to  the 
drifts  of  political  loves  and  enmities,  like  other  men  ? 

Why  Grermany  Hesitates. 

For  here  must  be  mentioned  another  powerful  cause  of 
German  hesitation  in  taking  the  part  of  their  oppressed  fellow- 
Christians  in  Armenia — the  hatred  of  England.  The  Turkish 
question  cannot  be  settled  for  good  and  all  except  by  means 
of  war  and  the  dismemberment  of  the  Ottoman  Empire ;  and 
who,  in  case  of  such  dismemberment,  would  have  the  gain  ? 
Why  at  present,  whatever  other  countries  might  secure,  Great 
Britain  would  be  certain  to  obtain  the  lion's  share.  And 
iBismarck  has  taught  Germans  not  to  approve  of  England 
increasing  her  territorial  possessions;  his  warnings,  his  work, 
his  political  testament  were  both  openly  and  secretly  against 
such  increase. 

The  interruption  in  this  long  and  steady  policy,  caused  by 
the  young  Emperor's  wilfulness,  was  an  episode.  It  was 
already  passed  when  the  reconciliation  of  the  Monarch  and 
the  retired  Chancellor  took  place  in   1894.     German  dispar- 


384  The  Turkish  Question  in  Germany. 

agement  of  England  became  vehement  after  that  incident.  It 
had  been  cultivated  into  being  during  Bismarck's  regime. 
The  Emperor's  telegram  to  President  Kriiger  was,  to  the 
initiated,  much  more  than  a  personal  impulse  ;  it  was  an  ex- 
pression of  popular  feeling,  and  a  betrayal  (over-hasty)  of  a 
fixed  policy — of  a  policy  that  embraces,  in  German  opinion,  a 
portion  also  of  the  Turkish  question. 

"  What  call  has  the  Fatherland  to  scorch  itself  in  drawing 
chestnuts  out  of  the  fire  for  England  ? "  was  a  phrase  that 
could  be  read  in  many  newspapers  when  the  probability  or  the 
chances  of  a  war  were  discussed.  And  although  it  was  inti- 
mated that  the  astute  Chancellor,  Prince  Hohenlohe,  would 
know  how  to  win  some  compensation  for  Germany's  aid  in 
such  a  war,  still  it  was  calculated  that  these  winnings  would 
be  less  than  could  be  demanded  later  when  the  power  of 
Greater  Gecmany  (the  P'atherland  and  its  colonies)  should 
have  had  time  to  become  consolidated. 

The  action  of  the  German  Government  in  the  China- Japan 
war,  through  which,  by  supporting  Russia  in  exerting  a 
pressure  on  Japan,  Germany  had  secured,  without  cost  or 
trouble,  two  Chinese  islands  for  coaling  stations,  seemed  to 
point  to  a  plan  and  continuity  in  the  imperial  foreign  policy, 
"  Let  the  present  disturbances  be  used  on  our  side  to  push 
our  commercial  interests,"  wrote  the  editor  of  the  National 
Liberal  News  of  Dresden.  "  We  have  no  political  interests 
in  the  Turkish  question.  Germany  is  friendly  to  the  Sultan, 
and  our  merchants  will  be  welcomed  by  Mussulman  traders 
who  have  sufficient  cause  to  withdraw  their  business  from  the 
hands  of  the  brow-beating  English  to  give  it  to  their  well- 
wishers." 

The  trade  returns  will  have  to  be  studied,  I  fancy,  by  every 
historian  who  sets  himself  to  ferreting  out  the  causes  and 
results  of  Germany's  policy  in  the  Turkish-Armenian  trouble. 


The  Turkish  Question  in  Germany.          385 

If  Germans  were  as  accustomed  as  are  English  men  and 
women  to  look  over  the  field  of  the  Government's  colonial 
work  and  were  become  familiar  with  the  condition  of  foreign 
peoples,  and  were  schooled  in  the  sentiment  of"  fair  play;"  if, 
in  a  word,  Germans  were  as  public-spirited  as  are  the  popula- 
tions of  Great  Britain  and  America,  their  voice  would  be 
lifted  aloud  as  are  the  voices  of  English-speaking  peoples 
against  the  wrongs  and  persecution  of  the  Armenians. 

But,  as  matters  necessarily  are,  the  really  knowing  ones 
consist  largely  of  members  of  corporations  engaged  in  foreign 
enterprises,  and  these  naturally  have  an  eye  chiefly  for  the 
opportunity  which  circumstances  present  them  with,  for 
increasing  business.  And  the  Government  only  follows  the 
precedent  which  Great  Britain  has  given  the  world  for  two 
centuries,  when  it  strenuously  supports  them. 

Finally,  the  attitude  of  Russia  must  be  regarded  when  a 
reason  is  looked  for  to  explain  Germany's  non-enforcement  of 
the  Berlin  Treaty.  The  taking  part  against  England  involves 
an  advocacy  of  England's  enemy,  Russia,  and  this  enemy  is 
Germany's  neighbor.  History  tells  us  how  Prussia  has  ever 
been  forced  to  fawn  upon  this  terrible  colossus,  and  the  main- 
tenance of  this  traditional  relationship  is  as  much  a  need  of 
the  new  Empire  as  ever  it  was  of  the  little  Electorate  of 
Brandenburg  and  Kingdom  of  Prussia;  indeed,  since  the  war 
of  1 870-'/ 1  with  France,  and  the  French  threats  of  revenge, 
Ihe  need  is  become  absolutely  imperative. 

Germany  would  be  between  an  upper  and  nether  millstone 
if  it  stood  between  the  ponderous  enmity  of  the  Czar  as  well 
as  the  fretting  wrath  of  France.  Hence  the  last  words  of 
warning  of  the  old  Emperor,  which  doubtless  have  been  ring- 
ing in  the  ears  of  the  statesmen  in  Berlin  whenever  they  dis- 
cussed the  Turkish  question :  "  Keep  on  good  terms  with 
Russia." 

2r 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Turkish  Oppression. 

BY  HERANT  MESROB  KIRETCHJIAN, 
General  Secretary  of  the  Armenian  Relief  Association, 

"The  oppressive  character  of  the  Government  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  with  respect  to  the  subject  races,"  is  a  very- 
clear  declaration  on  the  part  of  the  editor  of  The  Independent 
of  the  situation  in  the  country  known  as  the  Turkish  Empire 
It  is  a  character  that  is  important ;  it  is  an  actually  existing 
Government  that  counts,  and  the  mischievous  results  of  that 
Government  concern  the  civilized  world  to-day  more  in  the 
relation  to  the  "  subject  races  "  than  the  general  reformation 
of  that  misrule  itself.  The  question  is  not  so  complicated  as 
vast ;  not  requiring  so  much  skill  in  dealing  with  it  as  patient 
study  to  have  a  full  comprehension  of  the  main  factors  enter- 
ing into  it  as  potent  influences. 

As  in  a  medical  examination,  so  in  this,  euphony  of  diction 
is  to  be  sacrificed  to  truth ;  and,  first,  the  "  Government  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,"  as  it  is  to-day  and  has  been  for  500  years, 
is  only  Mohammedan  domination  with  regard  to  the  non-Mo- 
hammedan population  in  the  country.  Secondly,  the  *'  sub- 
ject races  "  are  only  slave  population  and  prisoners  of  war ; 
and,  thirdly,  the  essential  character  of  that  domination  over 
those  races  has  been  a  thorough  and  absolute  system  of  op- 
pression. 

In  entering  upon  remarks  regarding  the  character  of  that 
oppression,  it  might  be  necessary  to  point  to  the  proofs  of  the 
above  statements  regarding  the  Government  itself  and  the 
386 


Turkish   Oppression.  387 

status  of  the  "subject  races,"  For  that  part,  it  is  quite  suffi- 
cient to  point  to  the  whole  history  of  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment through  every  step  of  its  settled  existence  during  500 
years.  Not  very  keen  insight  is  necessary,  either,  but  only 
deliberate  study  and  simple,  impartial  judgment,  to  convince 
any  intelligent  mind  of  the  justice  of  the  charges. 

The  character  of  the  oppression  of  the  Turkish  Government 
must  be  tried  by  the  one  test  which  stands  higher  than  all 
theory  and  even  logical  inferences ;  by  that  test  which  has  the 
stamp  of  the  highest  authority  and  comes  with  the  power  of 
a  prima  facie  evidence  that  compels  conviction  :  "  By  their 
fruits,  ye  shall  know  them." 

Judged  by  its  Fruit. 

The  timber  of  the  oak  is  what  tells,  and  we  care  not  so 
much  for  the  foliage  or  the  acorn.  The  flower  of  the  rose- 
bush is  enough  to  satisfy  us  regarding  the  result  of  the  gar- 
dener's work ;  but  from  the  orchard  we  expect  fruit,  and  by 
its  fruit  we  judge  of  the  value  of  the  husbandman's  labor  and 
of  the  wisdom  of  his  management.  A  Government  is  not  for 
exhibition.  It  is  not  merely  to  make  history.  Before  the 
judgment  bar  of  God  and  man  it  is  to  stand  and  be  judged  by 
the  fruit  of  its  influences  upon  human  life ;  its  happiness,  its 
comfort,  its  development — moral,  physical  and  intellectual. 
Judged  by  that  standard, 

I.  The  Government  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  in  its  relation 
to  the  "subject  races,"  is  found  to  be  radically  and  essentially 
oppressive. 

The  Turkish  Government  is  based  upon  the  Mohammedan 
religion,  the  component  elements  of  which  are  the  Sword  and 
the  Koran.  While  for  half  a  century  European  diplomats 
have  been  deceiving  themselves  and  the  civilized  world  that 
the  Koran  could  cease  to  be  the  law  that  regulated  the  move- 


888  Turkish  Oppression. 

ments  of  the  Sword,  the  events  of  the  past  year  and  a  half 
have  proved  what  the  history  of  the  Turkish  Government  has 
long  ago  demonstrated,  that  the  Sword  and  Koran  are  united 
so  that  nothing  but  the  death  of  one  or  the  other  can  put 
them  asunder. 

Oppression  a  Settled  Policy. 

If  the  Government  of  the  Turkish  Empire  could  be  induced 
to  recognize  and  permit  the  development  of  an  "  Ottoman 
Empire "  after  the  type  of  civilized  governments,  where  the 
equality  of  all  citizens  before  the  law  is  the  basic  principle, 
oppression  in  that  Government  might  be  treated  as  a  disease ; 
but  as  the  Turkish  Empire  has  always  been,  and  is  to-day,  a 
"  Mohammedan  Empire,"  oppression  of  the  Christian  and  the 
"  infidel "  in  it  is  a  constitutional  quality. 

For  those  who  have  at  heart,  not  only  the  fate  of  the  Chris- 
tian races  in  Turkey,  but  also  the  interests  of  civilization  and 
Christendom  at  large,  this  must  stand  as  the  most  important 
element  in  the  case,  namely,  that  the  Government  of  the 
Turkish  Empire,  when  true  to  itself,  and  standing  upon  the 
ground  of  its  highest  efficiency,  is  by  nature  destructive  of 
those  forces  which  make  for  righteousness  in  this  world,  and 
are  the  foundation  of  that  which  is  counted  by  the  Aryan  races 
as  the  highest  civilization.  All  the  other  characteristics  are  the 
outcome  of  this  one  essential  fact,  and  will  be  influenced  by 
the  remedy  brought  to  bear  upon  this  root  of  the  evil  itself. 

2.  Turkish  oppression  is  universal.  It  oppresses  the  '^sub- 
ject races  "  in  all  places  and  in  all  their  relations.  The  unal- 
terable disabilities  deny  them  justice  in  the  courts,  assuring 
immunity  to  the  robber  and  the  highwayman  and  the  swin- 
dler, if  he  is  only  a  Mohammedan.  The  prosperity  of  the 
Christian  races,  merchant  and  artisan,  dependent  upon  justice 
and  protection,  is  thus  reduced  to  a  deplorable  minimum. 


Turkish  Oppression.  389 

Poverty  is  the  highway  open  before  every  Christian  com- 
munity ;  but  as  taxation,  unremitting,  unlimited,  and  merci- 
less, is  also  the  law  of  the  land,  the  instinct  of  self-preserva- 
tion drives  them  on  to  labor  incessantly  in  order  to  remedy 
the  evil  as  far  as  possible.  In  spite  of  a  fertile  soil  and  abun- 
dant natural  resources,  therefore,  the  "  subject  races  "  of  the 
Turkish  Empire  are  under  the  heel  of  a  grinding  oppression. 

Without  Modern  Improvements. 

After  centuries  of  honest,  toilsome  life,  in  sight  of  the 
golden  dawn  of  the  world's  greatest  century,  and  with  the 
thunder  of  the  chariot-wheels  of  modern  progress  in  their 
ears,  the  Christian  "subjects"  of  the  Sultan  are  there  to-day 
without  railroads  or  even  highways,  without  any  "  improve 
ments,"  ancient  or  modern,  in  science  or  art,  agriculture  or 
sanitation,  with  no  police  and  no  fire-alarms,  no  water-works, 
and  no  house-lighting  or  street-lighting  system ;  and  as  the 
shadows  of  evening  descend,  the  entire  land  from  Ararat  to 
the  Adriatic  sinks  into  fitful  slumber  under  the  black  wings  of 
anight  of  terror  and  insecurity  that  best  enables  weary  souls 
to  comprehend  the  felicity  of  a  hereafter  when  "  there  shall  be 
no  night  there." 

The  universality  of  the  oppression  is  also  assured  by  the 
fact  that  the  Mohammedan  of  all  conditions,  however  ignorant 
or  dull  in  other  respects,  is  remarkably  well  versed  in  this 
one  doctrine,  that  he  is  lord  and  master  while  the  Christian 
is  the  slave,  who  is  to  be  reminded  of  his  subordinate  con- 
dition with  every  opportunity.  An  intelligent  residence  of 
any  length  of  time  in  Turkey  would  convince  one  of  this 
almost  astounding  fact.  The  Governor  and  the  Pasha,  as 
true  Moslems,  have  never  had  scruples  in  denying  justice 
to  the  Christian,  in  receiving  bribes  from  defendant  and 
plaintiff  alike,  in  extending  their  protection  to  the  murderers 


390  Turkish  Oppression. 

of  men  and  the  ravishers  of  women ;  but  the  barbarous  Kurds 
on  the  mountains,  as  well  as  the  beggar  women  in  the 
streets  of  Constantinople,  are  just  as  conscious  of  their 
privilege  in  this  direction  as  the  watchful  guardians  of 
Turkish  law  in  high  places. 

On  the  hills  of  the  Golden  Horn,  above  Balat,  on  a  sunny 
afternoon,  a  Protestant  minister  was  out  walking  with  a  little 
girl  and  her  brother.  The  girl  was  dressed  after  the  fashion 
of  Europeans,  and  to  guard  her  eyes  from  the  bright  sunlight 
a  green  veil  covered  her  face.  There  were  Turkish  villages 
around,  and  a  group  of  Turkish  women  were  passing  by. 
Suddenly  one  of  them  sprang  toward  the  little  girl  and 
snatched  the  veil  from  her  head,  and  tore  it  into  shreds  with 
ominous  mutterings  and  imprecations.  The  veil  was  green, 
the  sacred  color  of  the  Mohammedan  religion,  to  be  worn 
only  by  the  highest  clergy.  How  could  the  child  of  the 
accursed  "  Giaour  "  dare  to  go  about  under  its  shadow  ! 

Years  afterward,  far  away  on  the  jagged  heights  of  Monte- 
negro, a  bridal  party  of  Christians  was  attacked,  as  reported 
by  the  British  Consul,  by  a  band  of  Turkish  ruffians.  They 
cut  the  bride  into  pieces,  half  killed  the  bridegroom,  raised  a 
funeral  pyre,  and  burned  the  dead  and  dying  under  the  rays 
of  the  setting  sun.  The  bride  had  worn  a  green  velvet 
jacket.  Away  on  the  mountains  of  Armenia  the  Kurdish 
Chief  Genjo,  upon  the  recovery  of  his  son  from  a  fatal 
malady,  went  out  to  seek  a  thank-offering  to  the  God  of 
Heaven,  and  the  sacrifice  he  decided  upon  was  the  lives  of 
seven  Christian  priests.  Up  and  down  through  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  at  the  hands  of  millions 
of  Mohammedans,  universal  oppression  in  every  conceivable 
shape  has  been  the  law  for  the  "  subject  races"  of  the  Turkish 
Empire. 

3.  The  oppression  of  the   Turk    is  cumulative.     Poverty 


Turkish  Oppression.  391 

and  ignorance  bring  degradation,  and  degradation  hardens 
human  nature ;  cruelty  becomes  an  instrument,  and  lust  is 
there  as  the  impelling  power.  Slowly,  steadily,  from 
villages  to  the  city,  from  the  cities  to  the  capital  of  the 
Empire,  the  great  tidal  waves  of  cruel  oppression  have 
brought  devastation  through  the  centuries,  and  once  and 
again  the  return  current  has  dashed  itself  against  the  high- 
lands of  Armenia,  as  well  as  the  habitations  of  other  Christian 
races,  and  opened  before  the  eyes  of  Christendom  ghastly 
pictures  of  blood  and  destruction,  that  to  the  minds  c*"  the 
uninitiated  have  appeared  as  accidental  developments.  The 
forces  of  this  evil  are  there  always,  and  are  constantly  ac- 
cumulating their  momentum. 

Fanaticism  not  Uncontrollable. 

It  is  a  farce  to  speak  of  inability  to  control  fanaticism  on 
the  part  of  the  Government  or  the  Sultan  of  Turkey.  It 
were  just  as  reasonable  to  speak  of  the  helplessness  of  the 
man  to  avert  disaster  who  loosens  a  mighty  bowlder  from  th^ 
mountain  heights  above  his  village,  or  finds  the  entertainment 
of  a  summer  day  by  carving  a  channel  in  the  dam  above  the 
city.  Sure  enough,  the  ignorance  of  the  Mohammedan  dis- 
qualifies him  from  understanding  the  science  of  the  correlation 
of  forces  in  the  kingdom  of  the  devil ;  but  of  their  nature  he  is 
not  ignorant,  and  glories  in  his  liberty  to  set  them  movinp-  in 
the  midst  of  the  Christian  populations  of  the  Empire. 

4.  And,  hence,  the  greatest  evil  of  Turkish  oppression  is 
its  far-reaching  character.  We  must  admit  that  there  are 
degrees  of  sin  and  evil ;  that  there  is  a  sin  against  the  Spirit 
which  far  outweighs  many  transgressions.  The  oppression 
of  the  Mohammedan  Government  by  its  universal,  cumulative 
weight  has  crushed  and  is  now  crushing  out  those  spiritual 
qualities  which  make  the  fiber  of  true  human  souls.     No  one 


392  Turkish  Oppression. 

who  believes  in  the  soul  of  man  and  its  undying  worth, 
could  fail  to  be  appalled  at  the  sight  of  the  havoc  that  has 
been  wrought  upon  the  manhood  of  the  peoples  inhabiting 
Turkey  in  consequence  of  Mohammedan  oppression. 

Degeneration  and  degradation  lose  their  significance  here. 
It  is  spiritual  contagion ;  it  is  intellectual  rottenness.  From 
early  childhood,  thousands  of  the  Christian  subjects  of  the 
Turkish  Government,  directly  or  indirectly  in  its  employ,  are 
led  to  seek  promotion  by  qualifying  to  serve  men  whose  busi- 
ness is  theft  and  corruption.  A  pasha  or  governor  in  the 
interior  seeks  an  accountant  or  a  treasurer,  not  to  render 
accurate  accounts  to  the  Minister  of  Finance,  but  to  devise 
ways  and  means  by  which  both  the  imperial  treasury  and  the 
population  of  the  district  can  be  robbed  in  a  manner  that  will 
be  the  least  open  to  detection  and  the  most  profitable  for  the 
private  treasury  of  the  Pasha  or  the  Governor  himself 

Thousands  of  the  Christian  youths  of  the  land,  naturally 
the  most  intelligent  and  capable  among  them,  have  been  for 
centuries  trained  in  a  school  of  corruption  and  villainy,  to 
oppress  their  own  countrymen,  as  the  servile  tools  of  the 
corrupt  officials  of  the  Government,  The  most  approved 
methods  of  fraud  and  bribery,  of  smuggling  and  wholesale 
deceit  have,  therefore,  been  at  a  high  premium  in  the  land 
known  as  the  Turkish  Empire,  from  the  morning  that  the 
Crescent  waved  over  the  walls  of  the  city  of  Constantine.  A 
lie  is  disreputable  if  it  fails  to  deceive.  It  has  the  double 
reward  of  both  remuneration  and  promotion  to  higher  service 
if  it  prevails.  How  blessed  the  Christian  under-secretaries  of 
the  Turkish  Foreign  Office,  when  they  return  with  the  trophies 
of  the  intellectual  scalps  of  the  astute  diplomats  whom 
Europe  sends  to  Constantinople  to  fish  for  facts  in  the  awful 
maelstrom  of  falsehoods  of  Turkish  diplomacy  ! 

It  is  a  matter  of  surprise,  indeed,  that  there  are  men  in 


Turkish  Oppression.  393 

high  places  of  the  Christian  West  who  have  fallen  into  the 
habit  of  measuring  the  hideous  injustice  and  oppression  of  all 
the  Christian  races  in  Turkey,  only  in  a  balance  where 
houses,  farms,  and  bodies  of  men  and  women  can  be  weighed. 
We  have  been  asked  :  "  Oh !  the  condition  of  the  Christians 
in  Turkey  is  surely  not  intolerable,  except  for  these  occasional 
massacres,  which  European  diplomacy  ought  to  prevent  ?  " 
and  the  answer  is  :  "  No,  the  disasters  of  fire  and  sword  are 
nothing  compared  to  the  frightful  havoc  of  the  souls  of  men 
that  has  been  brought  with  an  iron  hand  and  a  persistent, 
unrelenting  compulsion  upon  the  Christian  races  in  Turkey.'' 

An  Unmitigated  Ourse. 

Turkish  government,  which  is  mainly  nothing  but  a  colos- 
sal avalanche  of  corruption  and  sensuality  overwhelming  the 
peoples  of  Turkey,  cannot  be  justly  qualified  by  any  definition 
that  falls  short  of  signifying  an  absolutely  unmitigated  curse. 
I  am  reminded  here  of  the  sterling  words  of  the  golden- 
tongued  prophet,  the  noble  Gladstone,  who  stands  towering 
above  British  mediocrity  in  these  dark  days  of  ours:  "This 
is  strong  language,  gentlemen,  but  language  must  be  strong 
where  the  facts  are  strong." 

We  are  told  that  the  condition  of  the  Christians  in  Turkey 
might  be  worse;  they  might  have  been  exterminated.  It 
surely  is  in  order  to  ask  here,  Where  is  the  justice  of  it,  when 
there  is  help  for  it  ?  What  right  has  Europe  to  attend  to  the 
balance  of  power  that  is  kept  at  the  right  level  by  piling  high 
in  the  pan  of  the  scale,  souls  of  men,  both  of  Turk  and  Chris- 
tian, laid  low  with  the  contagion  of  corruption  and  the  rotten- 
ness of  all  iniquity  combined,  in  order  that  they  may  serve  as 
dead  weights  ? 

And  the  iniquity  of  this  condition  and  the  awful  responsi- 
bility at  the   door   of  those  who  are  responsible  for  it,  is 


394  Turkish  Oppression, 

enhanced  by  the  fact,  that  the  Christian  "  subject  races " 
under  the  Government  of  the  Turkish  Empire,  have  been 
striving  and  struggHng  through  all  these  years  of  subjection, 
for  a  higher  manhood,  nourished  by  the  abundance  of  good 
works,  and  especially  at  the  touch  of  Western  civilization, 
have  been  aspiring  for  their  highest  possibilities,  as  individual 
men  and  as  nations. 

No  Hope  of  Remedy. 

This  qualification  of  the  oppression  of  the  Turkish  Govern- 
ment is  especially  justifiable  and  unavoidable,  because, 

5.  An  essential  factor  in  the  character  of  the  oppression  of 
the  Turkish  government  is  its  hopelessness.  Some  one  wrote 
upon  a  prison  wall  the  gamut  of  national  degeneration.  It 
went  down  from  wealth  and  pride  to  war  and  poverty,  and 
then  started  on  a  return  tide  of  industry  and  prosperity  back 
over  the  same  path.  If  there  is  any  correctness  in  this  itiner- 
ary, it  must  have  counted  upon  rapid  transit  not  to  give  time 
for  pride  and  poverty  to  leave  an  impression  upon  the  soul  Oi 
the  nation.  The  universal,  accumulative  and  all-pervadiijg 
flood  of  Turkish  oppression  has  torn  up  and  borne  down  with 
it  every  single  anchorage  and  mooring  of  virtue  and  manhood 
for  the  ship  of  State,  so  that  no  returning  tide  is  ever  possible 
for  it. 

Action  and  reaction,  with  increasing  rapidity  even  through 
the  past  fifty  years,  have  brought  disastrous  loss  in  all  direc- 
tions ;  so  that  Turkey  has  to-day  less  money,  less  manhood, 
less  wisdom,  less  patriotism  and  less  confidence  in  itself. 
Only  one  power  rises  in  the  midst  of  universal  degeneration, 
and  that  is  the  rampant  spirit  of  desperate  and  malignant 
oppression. 

In  the  midst  of  the  colossal  calamity  of  tens  of  thousands 
of  innocent  people  murdered  in  cold  blood,  villages  and  cities 


Turkish  Oppression.  395 

laid  in  ashes,  and  hundreds  and  thousands  of  men,  women 
and  children  on  the  verge  of  starvation  and  death  from  expo- 
sure to  the  cold  blasts  of  a  highland  winter,  civilized  nations 
of  the  world  stand  appalled  and  appear  to  consider  the  diffi- 
culty of  the  situation  as  insurmountable.  But  it  is  not  so. 
First,  there  is  the  hope,  if  hope  it  may  be  called,  in  the  prin- 
ciple that  evil  destroys  itself,  while  the  good  rises  strong  with 
the  power  of  self-propagation  with  every  morning's  sun. 

The  Woes  of  the  Turk. 

The  Turk  is  destroying  himself.  His  government  of  op- 
pression is  as  great  a  curse  to  himself  as  to  the  Christian ; 
and  Europe,  in  permitting  and  well-nigh  supporting  that 
oppression,  has  been  as  great  a  criminal  against  the  Turk  as 
against  the  Christian.  What  is  wanted,  therefore,  for  the 
Christian  "  subject  races  "  in  Turkey,  languishing  under  the 
cruel  yoke  of  this  murderous  oppression,  is  protection.  If  the 
Christian  governments  of  Europe  are  unwilling  as  yet  to  sep- 
arate the  Sword  and  the  Koran,  they  are  surely  in  honor 
bound  to  extend  the  protection  they  so  easily  can  extend  to 
the  Christian  population  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  and  practi- 
cally isolate  the  Mohammedan  with  his  Sword  and  his  Koran. 

That  is  the  efficient  remedy  of  the  situation,  and  one  which, 
in  the  name  of  justice  and  humanity,  honor  and  civilization, 
all  believers  in  human  rights  can  demand  at  the  hands  of 
those  who  have  the  power  to  apply  it.  Pure  air  and  good 
soil  are  the  best  disinfectants.  Before  the  swelling  tide  of 
Christian  civilization,  with  its  bracing  atmosphere  of  justice 
and  liberty,  and  the  healthful  soil  of  industry  and  continued 
well-doing,  the  Mohammedan  oppression  will  be  driven  away 
as  the  floating  clouds  and  pestilential  miasma  are  blown  away 
before  the  breath  of  the  mighty  North  wind,  and  nature  blos- 
soms into  full  life  in  the  warm  light  of  heaven. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Missionary  Work  in  Turkey. 

BY  JUDSON  SMITH,  D.D., 
Secretary  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  first  notice  of  an  intended  mission  within  the  Hmits  of 
the  Turkish  Empire  appears  in  the  Annual  Report  of  the 
Board  for  1819,  nine  years  after  the  Board  was  organized. 
Missionaries  of  the  Board  were  already  at  work  in  India  and 
among  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  America,  and  a  mission  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands  was  under  contemplation.  In  this  report 
the  committee  dwell  upon  the  reasons  for  a  special  interest  on 
the  part  of  Christian  people  in  the  re-establishment  of  pure 
Christianity  in  the  historic  regions  honored  by  the  earthly  life 
of  our  Lord  and  traversed  by  His  first  disciples. 

Palestine  was  the  region  specially  in  mind,  but  the  com- 
mittee recognized  the  fact  that  the  occupancy  of  a  much  wider 
field  was  included  in  the  beginning  of  missionary  work  in 
Jerusalem,  and  the  writer  of  this  first  report  referred  to 
"  Smyrna,  the  provinces  of  Asia  Minor,  Armenia,  Georgia  and 
Persia,  Mohammedan  countries,  in  which,  though  there  are 
many  Jews  and  Christians,  there  is  still  a  deplorable  lack  of 
Christian  knowledge  and  of  Christian  life."  Before  this  year 
had  ended,  the  Rev.  Levi  Parsons  and  the  Rev.  Pliny  Fisk 
were  set  apart  to  establish  a  mission  at  Jerusalem,  and  in  the 
following  year  entered  upon  their  labors,  touching  at  Malta 
and  taking  up  their  residence  at  Smyrna  for  a  time  before 
they  reached  their  destined  field.  From  these  labors,  by  a 
process  of  natural  development,  missionary  work  at  first 
396 


Missionary   Work  in  Turkey.  397 

intended  for  Palestine,  afterward  set  up  in  the  Island  of  Malta 
and  in  Athens,  came  to  take  a  firm  and  lasting  hold  upon  the 
Turkish  Empire. 

Extension  of  the  Work. 

In  183 1  work  was  opened  at  Constantinople  by  Dr.  Goodell, 
re-enforced  by  Dr.  Dwight  in  the  following  year,  and  thence 
gradually  it  was  extended  to  Smyrna,  BrCisa,  Trebizond,  Erz- 
rum,  Aintab,  and  so  on  throughout  the  entire  district  of  Asiatic 
Turkey.  The  aim  in  the  establishment  of  the  original  mission 
in  Palestine  and  in  these  later  stages  of  missionary  work  in 
Turkey,  had  respect  to  the  entire  population  of  the  Empire, 
and  this  aim  has  never  for  a  moment  been  abandoned  or  lost 
sight  of,  and  remains  to-day  an  unfulfilled  but  inspiring 
purpose. 

Actual  missionary  work,  however,  was  restricted  by  the 
laws  of  the  Empire  to  the  Christian  populations,  chiefly  the 
Armenians  and  the  Greeks,  and  to  the  Jews,  and  this  has  been 
the  characteristic  feature  of  the  work  of  the  Board  in  the 
Turkish  Empire.  An  ancient  but  corrupted  form  of  Chris- 
tianity it  has  been  sought  to  purify  and  bring  back  to  a  true 
acquaintance  with  the  Gospels,  a  living  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  a  life  molded  in  its  spirit  and  aims  by  the 
Scriptures  and  by  Him  of  whom  they  testify.  It  was  not  the 
intention  of  the  missionaries  to  establish  a  separate  Protestant 
community,  but  to  assist,  if  possible,  in  a  movement  that 
should  result  in  the  reformation  of  the  existing  churches. 

The  excommunication  of  the  evangelicals  from  their  own 
Church  and  community  by  the  Armenian  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople changed  their  plans  and  made  necessary  the  orga- 
nization of  Protestant  churches  and  of  a  Protestant  commu- 
nity, which  were  at  once  formally  recognized  by  the  Turkish 
Government.     This  action  took  place  in  1847  and  introduced 


398  Missionary   Work  in  Turkey. 

a  change   in  the   methods  of  missionary  work,  but  not  a 
change  of  aim. 

It  is  a  most  happy  circumstance  of  these  later  days,  that 
the  reformation  of  the  Gregorian  churches  which  was  making 
such  progress  prior  to  the  separation  has  reappeared,  that 
these  churches  have  in  many  instances  come  into  most  friendly 
relations  to  the  neighboring  Protestant  churches,  the  true 
evangelical  spirit  has  manifested  itself  with  cheering  results 
among  the  priests  and  people,  and  the  original  hope  of  the 
mission  has  begun  to  be  realized  in  many  parts  of  the  Empire. 

One  Great  Mission  Field. 

Originally  the  entire  field  of  Turkey  was  regarded  as  one 
mission  with  its  center  at  Constantinople ;  but  the  practical 
difficulties  of  holding  a  yearly  meeting  of  the  mission  at  any 
one  point,  with  other  considerations,  led  to  the  division  of  the 
Empire  into  the  four  fields  of  the  present  time — the  Western 
Turkey  mission,  embracing  territorially  the  larger  part, 
including  as  its  stations  Constantinople,  Nicomecl^a,  Brijsa, 
Smyrna,  Marsovan,  Cesarea,  Sivas  and  Trebizond ;  the  Centra' 
Turkey  mission,  lying  to  the  south  of  the  Taurus  MountainL, 
and  to  the  west  of  the  Euphrates  Valley,  with  its  two  princi- 
pal stations  at  Aintab  and  Marash ;  the  Eastern  Turkey  mis- 
sion, including  what  lies  between  these  two  fields  and  the 
Russian  and  Persian  borders,  having  for  its  stations  Erzr^m, 
HarpM,  Mardin,  Bitlis  and  Van ;  and  the  mission  in  European 
Turkey,  of  later  origin,  chiefly  among  Bulgarians,  with  its  sta- 
tions at  Monastir,  Philippopolis,  Samokov  and  Salonica. 

From  the  beginning,  work  in  behalf  of  the  Greek  Chris- 
tians, found  in  certain  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire  in  consid- 
erable numbers,  has  constituted  an  integral  and  very  interest- 
ing part  of  the  whole  enterprise,  but  has  never  constituted  a 
distinct  mission. 


Missionary   Work  in  Turkey.  399 

The  languages  employed  in  missionary  work  have  been  the 
Armenian,  the  Greek,  the  Turkish,  the  Bulgarian  and  in  cer- 
tain portions  of  the  Central  Turkey  mission  and  of  the  East- 
ern Turkey  Mission  the  Arabic.  The  Bible  translated  into 
these  languages,  has  been  widely  distributed,  many  text-books 
for  school  use  have  been  provided,  and  a  somewhat  extended 
volume  of  Christian  literature  has  been  made  available  for  the 
people  by  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries. 

The  Bible  House  at  Constantinople,  one  of  the  great  cen- 
ters of  missionary  activity  and  a  right  arm  of  the  missionary 
work,  sends  out  through  all  the  Empire  annually  many  mil- 
lions of  pages  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  other  literature  for  the 
Instruction  and  edification  of  the  Christian  people,  as  well  as 
text-books  for  the  mission  schools. 

Character  of  Missionary  Work. 

The  direct  Christian  work  in  these  missions  in  Turkey  has 
been  most  energetic,  widespread  and  effectual,  and  many  self- 
supporting,  evangelical  churches  are  found  in  the  great  cen- 
ters in  each  of  the  missions.  Education  has  been  a  marked 
feature  of  the  work  in  these  missions  almost  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  nowhere  else  in  the  fields  occupied  by  the  Board 
have  we  to-day  so  many  institutions  of  a  high  grade,  so  fully 
attended. 

Anatolia  College  at  Marsovan,  Central  Turkey  College  at 
Aintab,  and  the  Institute  at  Samokov,  for  men  alone,  the 
American  College  for  girls  at  Scutari,  and  the  Central  Turkey 
Female  College  at  Marash,  for  women  alone,  and  Euphrates  ' 
College  at  Harput,  for  both  men  and  women,  are  all  institu-  | 
tions  doing  a  work  of  true  college  grade  adjusted  to  the  spe-  ' 
cial  conditions  found  in  the  Turkish  Empire.     Robert  Col- 
lege, on  the  Bosphorus,  though  entirely  independent  of  the 
missions,   is    a    striking    result    of    missionary   labors    and 


400  Missionary   Work  in  Turkey. 

strongly  re-enforces  missionary  influence.  These  colleges 
are  re-enforced  by  twenty-six  high  schools  for  boys,  nineteen 
boarding  schools  for  girls,  all  thoroughly  manned  and 
attended  by  about  2,cxx)  students,  and  by  350  common 
schools,  with  more  than  16,000  pupils. 

At  the  head  of  all  stand  the  five  theological  schools,  in 
which  men  are  trained  directly  for  the  native  pastorate.  Iti 
will  suggest  the  breadth  and  fruitfulness  of  the  work  if  atten- 
tion is  called  to  the  125  churches  now  in  these  missions,  with 
12,787  members,  with  100  native  pastors,  128  other  preachers, 
and  a  total  force  of  native  laborers  numbering  778.  It  is  fur- 
ther evidence  of  the  quality  of  these  churches  that  last  year 
they  contributed  for  all  purposes  but  little  short  of  ;^68,ooo. 

An  Educational  Centre. 

A  work  having  the  same  origin  with  these  missions,  con- 
ducted by  the  Board  for  many  years,  achieving  a  like  success, 
and  now  in  the  care  of  the  Presbyterian  Board  of  New  York, 
is  in  progress  in  Syria,  having  its  great  educational  center  at 
Beirut.  The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  of  America  sus- 
tains a  small  but  successful  medical  and  educational  work  at 
Mersin  in  Asia  Minor. 

Work  in  behalf  of  the  Jews  in  different  parts  of  the  Empire, 
at  first  included  in  the  missions  of  the  Board,  is  now  in  the 
care  of  missionaries  from  Great  Britain  ;  there  is  also  an  inter- 
esting work  supported  by  the  Society  of  Friends  in  this  coun- 
try carried  on  in  different  parts  of  Palestine.  But,  providen- 
tially, the  great  bulk  of  the  missionary  work  in  the  Turkish 
Empire  has  devolved  upon  the  American  Board,  and  has  at 
length  reached  nearly  every  principal  city  and  village  in 
European  Turkey  and  in  the  territory  from  the  Dardanelles 
and  the  Mediterranean  eastward  to  the  Russian  border,  and 
from  the  Black  Sea  govithward  to  Syria  and  Arabia. 


Missionary   Work  in  Turkey.  401 

At  no  time  has  the  work  of  the  Board  in  Asiatic  Turkey 
been  in  better  condition  or  presented  greater  promise  than 
within  the  last  year.  And  it  is  upon  the  Armenian  people, 
among  whom  this  work  has  been  so  largely  carried  on,  that  a 
wild  storm  of  massacre  and  pillage  has  fallen,  sweeping  the 
country  from  Trebizond  southward  into  the  valley  of  the 
Euphrates,  westward  to  Marsovan  and  Cesarea  and  out  to  the 
Mediterranean  Sea,  covering  the  entire  territory  of  the  east- 
ern and  central  missions  and  those  parts  of  the  Western 
Turkey  mission  that  are  adjacent. 

Thousands  have  been  foully  murdered,  chiefly  the  leading 
business  men,  and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  those  dependent 
on  thqm  have  been  left  utterly  destitute ;  many  a  Protestant 
pastor  and  teacher  has  fallen  in  loyalty  to  his  faith,  and  mis- 
sion chapels  and  schools  in  great  numbers  have  been  burned 
to  the  ground.  The  stations  where  educational  work  centered 
have  been  especially  assailed,  and  at  Harpiit  and  to  some  degree 
at  Marash,  the  plant  has  been  well-nigh  swept  out  of  existence, 
and  the  missionaries  themselves  exposed  to  deadly  peril. 

The  Heart  of  the  Christian  World  Stirred. 

Sympathy  for  the  people,  so  broken  and  bleeding,  is  almost 
as  widespread  as  Christianity  and  civilization,  and  generous 
gifts  for  their  relief  are  steadily  flowing  to  Constantinople. 
There  is  an  additional  reason  why,  for  the  American  people,  a 
peculiar  interest  should  attach  to  the  present  situation  in 
Turkey.  Upon  the  uplifting  and  enlightenment  of  a  noble 
portion  of  the  people  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  American  citi- 
zens have  already  expended  more  than  ;$6,ooo,ooo,  have 
established  there  a  mission  plant  worth  to-day  ^1,500,000,  are 
annually  devoting  to  the  further  development  of  this  work  a 
sum  exceeding  5150,000,  and  have  there  as  their  representa- 
tives, distributed  in  small  groups  over  the  whole  Empire,  a 
26 


<  i^^m^^^ 


402    HORRIBLY    TOR.TURED    FOR    THEIR    CHRISTIAN     FAITH 


Missionary   Work  in   Turkey.  403 

band  of  152  men  and  women,  among  the  noblest  and  the  best 
that  our  Christian  homes  and  schools  can  produce. 

The  bearing  of  these  men  and  women  in  the  midst  of  the 
terrible  scenes  of  the  last  four  months,  their  calmness  when 
the  people  were  filled  with  dread  in  view  of  the  approaching 
scourge,  their  courage  when  death  was  all  around  them  and 
even  when  it  stared  them  in  the  face,  their  faith  that  out  of  all 
this  tumult  and  distress  will  come  the  enlargement  of  God's 
kingdom  in  this  land,  their  steadfast  purpose  to  remain  at 
their  posts  and  share  the  troubles  of  their  people  and  minister 
to  their  wants,  proof  against  the  natural  shrinking  of  their 
own  hearts,  against  the  pleading  of  friends  at  home,  against 
the  persuasions  even  of  those  to  whom  they  must  look  for 
protection — these  things  have  won  for  them  the  meed  of 
•miversal  praise. 

Another  Name  for  Heroism. 

The  name  missionary  has  gained  a  new  definition  by  deeds 
like  these,  and  instead  of  a  term  of  reproach  or  ridicule,  it  has 
become  almost  a  synonym  of  hero  and  heroine.  And  all  this 
noble  conduct  has  filled  the  Armenian  nation  v/ith  boundless 
love  and  gratitude,  and  has  bound  their  hearts  to  the  mission- 
aries with  hooks  of  steel.  Henceforth  this  whole  nation  will 
be  like  wax  in  the  hands  of  these  their  protectors  and  bene- 
factors and  personal  friends.  And  even  beyond  the  Armenian 
people,  many  and  many  of  the  Moslems  are  noting  this  high 
proof  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  are  enshrining  in  their 
hearts'  admiring  love  the  names  we  cherish,  and  longing  for  a 
share  in  their  faith. 

But  it  as  teachers  and  exemplars  of  the  Christian  faith  and 
life,  not  as  political  deliverers,  that  they  have  won  their  place; 
no  political  aim  has  ever  been  allowed  to  enter  into  this  wide- 
spread and  most  effective  Christian  labor;  and  the  mi.ssionary 


404  Missionary   Work  in  Turkey. 

operations  of  the  Board  stand  clear  of  all  responsibility  for 
the  grave  political  disturbances  which  threaten  the  stability  of 
the  Empire.  They  have  been  loyal  to  the  existing  Govern- 
ment and  have  inculcated  this  duty  upon  their  pupils ;  they 
have  sought  to  make  better  men  and  better  citizens  of  all 
those  with  whom  they  have  had  to  do  ;  and  no  truer  friends 
of  the  Turkish  Empire  and  of  all  its  people  than  the  Ameri- 
can missionaries  have  lived  within  its  borders  these  seventy 
years  past. 

For  the  protection  of  themselves  and  of  their  legitimate 
enterprise  within  that  territory,  guaranteed  by  treaty  rights, 
and  numerous  precedents,  and  long-continued  usage,  we  may 
justly  claim  the  utmost  exertions  of  our  own  Government  and 
the  friendly  regard  of  all  mankind.  It  cannot  be  that  upon 
this  work,  to  which  so  many  precious  lives  have  been  given, 
on  which  such  treasures  have  been  expended,  on  the  success- 
ful maintenance  of  which  such  vast  interests  depend,  ruin 
hopeless  and  universal  is  now  to  fall  May  we  not  rather 
cherish  the  hope  that  this  storm  is  for  cleansing  and  purifying 
and  shall  endure  but  for  a  night,  and  that  a  day  of  brightness 
and  glory  is  soon  to  dawn  upon  this  great  Empire  ? 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

Turkey  and  the  Turks. 

BY  REV.  EDWIN  MUNSELL  BLISS. 

The  term  Turkey,  as  ordinarily  used,  is  applied  distinc- 
tively to  the  section  including  Asia  Minor,  Armenia  and 
Kurdistan,  and  is  thus  by  no  means  identical  with  the  Turkish 
Empire.  European  Turkey,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  Egypt  and 
Tripoli  in  Africa  have  each  their  own  individuality,  and  were 
they  withdrawn  from  Turkish  rule  Turkey  would  still  remain. 
Take,  however,  this  section,  which  may  be  called  Turkey 
proper,  out  of  the  Sultan's  hands,  and  though  he  continued  in 
power,  even  at  Damascus  or  Bagdad,  Turkey  would  cease  to 
exist.  This  integrity  of  Turkey  proper  is  due  partly  to  its 
topography,  but  chiefly  to  the  fact  of  its  being  dominated  so 
thoroughly  by  the  Turks. 

From  the  Bosphorus  to  Persia  there  are  no  natural  bound- 
a.ies.  The  mountain  ranges  either  follow  the  coast  line  or 
blend  in  an  inextricable  maze  both  on  the  east  and  west.  The 
rivers  double  upon  themselves  in  most  perplexing  style,  while 
high  plateaus  of  varying  extent  and  great  fertility  are  scat- 
tered over  the  whole  area  with  full  impartiality.  The  result 
jf  these  general  characteristics  is  seen  in  history.  The  whole 
region  has  either  been  under  the  control  of  some  one  power 
or  has  been  divided  among  petty  kingdoms,  with  no  definite 
limitations,  each  depending  for  its  extent  upon  the  variable 
valor  of  its  troopers  and  the  ambition  of  its  chieftains. 

When  Romans  or  Greeks  entered  from  the  west,  the 
Assyrians  from  the  south  and  the  Turks  or  Mongols  from  the 

405 


406  Turkey  and  the  Turks. 

east,  they  found  themselves  in  much  the  same  condition  as  the 
Russians  in  Central  Asia,  compelled  to  subdue  the  various 
tribes  one  after  another,  or  leave  the  country  and  confine  their 
rule  to  regions  more  easily  traversed.  Greeks,  Romans, 
Assyrians,  Mongols,  failed  to  make  permanent  their  Empire. 
The  only  ones  who  stayed,  met  the  various  difficulties, 
brought  the  whole  region  under  one  centralized  Government 
and  held  it  for  any  length  of  time,  were  those  who  have  given 
their  name  to  the  land  and  who  are  to-day  the  ruling  class  in 
Turkey,  the  Tiirks. 

The  story  of  how  this  Tartar  tribe,  after  various  expedi- 
tions, secured  its  footing  in  Western  Asia  Minor  and  built  up 
its  go/ernment,  is  one  of  the  most  fascinating  in  history.  In 
the  progress  from  chieftainship  to  empire,  under  such  leaders 
as  Orchan,  Mohammed  II.,  Suleiman  the  Magnificent,  and 
others,  there  were  many  vicissitudes.  At  times  there  seemed 
to  be  no  limit  to  their  power,  and  Europe  stood  aghast  as  the 
Turkish  troops  gathered  twice  under  the  crumbling  walls  of 
Vienna.  The  valor  of  the  citizens  in  the  one  case  and  the 
conscientious  fidelity  of  Sobieski  in  the  other  proved  more 
than  a  match  for  the  Asiatics  ;  and  they  fell  back. 

At  other  times  the  great  Empire  with  its  heterogeneous  ele- 
ments seemed  on  the  point  of  crumbling  to  pieces,  but  always 
there  was  some  innate  power  that  secured  a  rebound,  until  it 
was  stronger  than  ever.  There  was,  too,  the  strange  kaleido- 
scope of  European  diplomacy.  Francis  I.,  of  France,  led  the 
way,  with  an  alliance  with  Suleiman  against  Austria ;  then  one 
power  and  another  coquetted  with  Sultans,  bribed  viziers,  or 
alternately  cajoled  and  threatened  the  Porte,  until  the  great 
strife  came  between  Napoleon  and  the  Czar,  and  the  "  Great 
Elchi,"  Sir  Stratford  Canning,  inaugurated  the  reign  of  British 
influence. 

The  story  of  the  present  century  is  too  full  of  varying 


Turkey  and  the  Turks.  407 

phases  to  be  even  outlined  here.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
notwithstanding  the  loss  of  province  after  province ;  notwith- 
standing an  administration,  probably  the  most  corrupt  and 
worthless  in  the  world ;  notwithstanding  repeated  massacres 
of  its  best  tax-payers ;  notwithstanding  a  steady,  unwavering, 
unmitigated  oppression,  which  has  ground  the  very  life  out  of 
the  fairest  lands  of  the  Empire,  that  Empire  stands  to-day, 
and  we  hear  less  of  the  approaching  dissolution  of  the  "  Sick 
Man  "  than  has  been  heard  for  over  half  a  century. 

What  is  the  reason  for  this  continuance  of  a  Government 
which  has  been  generally  considered  so  weak  that  for  over  a 
century  its  partition  has  been  a  familiar  theme  for  European 
statesmen  ?  The  popular  answer  is,  the  jealousy  of  the  Euro- 
pean Powers,  which  acts  as  a  prop  on  every  side.  There  is 
undoubtedly  truth  in  this  ;  but  there  is  another  element  that 
enters  in  as  a  most  important  factor,  and  that  is  the  Turkish 
population. 

Population  of  Turkey. 

There  are  no  reliable  statistics  of  population  in  Turkey. 
The  latest  available  estimates  give  about  11,000,000  for 
Turkey  proper.  This  is  divided  among  Turks,  Kurds,  Cir- 
cassians and  other  Moslem  tribes,  Armenians  and  Greeks. 
Here  again  there  is  no  good  basis  for  accurate  apportionment. 
Probably  there  are  about  6,000,000  Turks,  1,000,000  Kurds, 
500,000  Circassians,  etc.,  2,000,000  Armenians,  1,000,000 
Greeks,  and  the  remaining  500,000  are  Jews,  Jacobites,  for- 
eigners, etc.  Thus  the  Turkish  element  is  by  far  the  strongest 
in  numbers.  It  is  also  so  distributed  as  thoroughly  to  domi- 
nate the  whole  territory,  and  it  has  certain  elements  of 
character  which  have  had  an  important  part  in  the  organization 
and  preservation  of  the  Empire. 

The  Turkish  character  is  often  very  much  misunderstood. 


408  T^urkey  and  the  Turks. 

partly  because  the  foreigner  sees  only  certain  phases  of  it, 
partly  because  it  is  in  truth  very  self-contradictory.  The 
historian  reads  chiefly  of  the  terror  inspired  wherever  Turkish 
troops  have  gone,  and  his  vision  is  filled  with  pictures  of 
burning  villages  and  long  lines  of  exiles  or  slaves.  The 
average  reader  of  to-day  thinks  only  of  the  "  unspeakable 
Turk/'  dwells  upon  the  terrible  recital  of  the  scenes  at  Sasstin, 
Erzrtim,  Urfa,  etc.,  and  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
whole  race  should  be  blotted  out.  On  the  other  hand,  diplo- 
mats tell  of  an  urbane  Sultan,  suave  viziers  and  courteous 
administrators. 

The  Truth  about  the  Turk. 

Travelers  speak  of  hospitable  sheiks  and  loyal  servants 
and  merchants  who  have  suffered  at  the  hands  of  shrewder 
Armenians  and  Greeks,  laud  the  honesty  and  reliability  of 
their  Turkish  correspondents.  These  latter  claim  that  their 
personal  observation  is  more  to  be  relied  upon  than  the  state- 
ments of  those  who  have  suffered  or  those  who  they  think 
have  an  interest  in  painting  even  the  Devil  blacker  than  he 
deserves. 

What  is  the  truth  about  the  Turk  ?  Are  they  fiends  in- 
carnate or  are  they  mild-mannered,  kindly  men  ?  It  is  given 
to  no  one  man  to  be  able  to  tell  all  the  truth,  or  hold  the 
balances  with  perfectly  even  hand,  hence  what  is  said  here  is 
offered  not  as  dictum  or  as  judgment,  but  simply  as  one 
man's  contribution  based  upon  many  experiences  and  con- 
siderable reading. 

I  have  had  Turkish  landlords  and  Turkish  neighbors,  have 
enjoyed  Turkish  hospitality  and  traveled  under  Turkish  pro- 
tection, and  it  is  simple  justice  to  say  that  I  ask  no  more 
kindly,  courteous  treatment  than  I  have  had  from  all ;  but,  I 
have  seen  Turks  left  to  starve  by  their  own  kin,  I  have  heard 


Turkey  and  the  Turks.  409 

from  Turkish  lips  the  foulest  language  that  can  come  from  a 
foul  heart ;  I  have  felt  the  weight  of  Turkish  official  false- 
hood, and  the  sting  of  Turkish  contempt  for  the  infidel,  and 
have  seen  the  effect  of  Turkish  oppression. 

It  must  be  recognized  that  there  are  many  sides  to  Turkish 
character.  Under  ordinary  circumstances  the  Turk  of  the 
inland  village  or  town,  and  often  the  Turk  of  the  city,  mani- 
fests many  of  the  nobler  elements.  He  is  affectionate  in  his 
family,  dearly  loving  his  children,  and  not  infrequently  his 
wife.  He  is  fond  of  flowers,  rejoices  in  beautiful  scenery,  is 
kind  to  animals,  hospitable  to  guests,  and  for  the  most  part 
lives  on  good  terms  with  his  neighbors  of  whatever  race  or 
creed.  He  is  loyal  to  his  religion,  and  his  worship  is  by  no 
means  perfunctory.  To  him  the  one  God  is  an  intensely  real 
Being,  whose  power  is  absolute,  and  "to  disobey  whom  will 
bring  swift  and  sure  destruction.  That  power  is  not  merely 
general,  but  personal,  even  to  the  minutest  detail  of  life. 

A  Rank  Fatalist. 

Hence  the  unadulterated  Turk  is  an  absolute  fatalist,  who 
will  take  no  medicine  to  cure  disease,  or  flinch  in  the  face  of 
the  most  powerful  foes.  Hence,  also,  he  is  loyal  to  the 
Caliph  as  the  civil  head  of  the  Moslem  Church,  and  no  ruler 
in  the  world  can  boast  more  faithful  subjects  than  can  the 
Sultan.  In  his  bearing  toward  the  subject  races  there  is 
evident  the  haughtiness  of  a  ruling  class,  a  gracious  accept- 
ance of  their  contributions  to  his  welfare  in  the  shape  of  taxes 
and  general  service,  and  a  certain  disdainful  toleration  for  the 
tricks  they  practice  in  order  to  make  up  in  this  life  for  the 
misery  they  are  to  suffer  in  the  life  to  come. 

When  it  comes  to  his  personal  welfare  the  Turk  has  com- 
paratively little  ambition;  what  was  good  enough  for  his 
f?thers  is  good  enough  for  him ;   why  labor  to  secure  more  of 


410  Turkey  and  the  Turks. 

comfort  than  God  evidently  intended  ?  Thus  his  great  desire 
is  "  to  make  kef"  enjoy  the  present  to  the  full,  let  the  morrow 
take  care  of  itself,  and  exert  himself  as  little  as  may  be.  This 
is,  however,  not  laziness,  for  whenever  he  undertakes  anything 
he  is  energetic ;  it  is  rather  a  form  of  fatalism,  a  sort  of  com- 
bination of  the  Stoic  and  the  Epicurean. 

There  are,  however,  other  characteristics.  In  times  of 
famine  and  distress  he  will  put  forth  little  or  no  effort  to  save 
his  fellows.  Suffering,  whether  of  man  or  beast,  he  looks 
upon  with  calmness,  almost  with  stolidity.  He  considers 
woman  his  slave,  and  has  not  the  faintest  regard  for  the  honor 
of  sex,  except  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  to  preserve  from  taint 
his  own  family. 

Not  from  Principle. 

His  truthfulness  and  honesty  are  purely  a  matter  of  natural 
dignity  of  character,  and  have  no  moral  quality.  Let  there 
arise  the  feeling  that  his  supremacy  or  the  supremacy  of  his 
religion  is  in  danger,  and  there  are  no  excesses  of  deceit, 
murder,  rapine  or  outrage  to  which  he  will  not  go.  Tlie 
excesses  of  the  past  year  have  been  committed  chiefly  by  the 
Kurds  and  the  rabble  such  as  is  found  in  every  nation,  but 
regular  soldiers  and  Turkish  citizens  have  had  no  inconsider- 
able share  in  them. 

It  is  part  of  his  creed  that  no  faith  be  kept  with  an  infidel ; 
and  though  under  ordinary  circumstances  the  native  honesty 
of  the  race  asserts  itself  against  the  creed,  let  the  occasion 
arise  and  the  creed  becomes  all-powerful  law.  Even  loyalty 
to  the  Sultan  depends  upon  the  Sultan's  loyalty  to  the  creed, 
and  if  once  the  feeling  arise  that  the  Caliph  is  false  to  his 
trust,  his  deposition  becomes  most  manifest  duty,  not  only  of 
the  rabble,  but  of  the  best  citizen. 

Official  life  seems  to  have  in  Turkey,  even  more  than  else- 


Turkey  and  the  Turks.  411 

where,  the  effect  of  developing  the  worst  characteristics  of 
Turkish  nature.  The  Turks  themselves  say  that  a  Turk  is  a 
decent  man  until  he  becomes  an  official,  and  then  he  becomes 
a  scamp.  The  Turkish  Government  is  unquestionably  the 
worst  in  the  world.  It  is  absolutely  rotten  with  bribery,  and 
knows  nothing  of  justice.  Not  that  Turkish  officials  are  all 
thoroughly  bad  men.  Such  men  as  Fuad,  Ali,  Ahmet  Vefyk 
and  Kiamil  Pashas  would  be  an  honor  to  any  country ;  and 
no  one  can  have  dealings  with  the  Government  without  find- 
ing numerous  individuals  who  preserve  the  better  qualities  of 
the  Turkish  character. 

In  general,  however,  an  honest  official  is  unknown,  and 
from  the  highest  officers  of  the  Porte  to  the  most  menial 
servitors  in  the  provinces,  the  Government  is  administered  in 
a  shamelessly  corrupt  and  outrageously  cruel  manner. 

Power  of  the  Peasantry. 

Much  more  might  be  said,  but  this  will  suffice  to  give  a 
conception  of  both  the  strength  and  weakness  of  the  Turkish 
Empire.  Five  million  Turkish  peasants,  such  as  make  up 
the  bulk  of  the  nation,  are  a  power  by  no  means  to  be 
despised.  They  have  proved  their  power  repeatedly  in 
history,  and  to-day  they  are  by  far  the  most  important  ele- 
ment in  the  section  described  as  Turkey  proper.  From 
Constantinople  and  Smyrna  to  the  Euphrates,  they  are  domi- 
nant, not  only  over  Christians,  but  over  other  Moslems ;  and 
east  of  the  Euphrates,  while  fewer  in  numbers  than  the 
Kurds,  their  native  force  of  character,  not  less  than  their 
possession  of  the  reins  of  government,  makes  them  the  rulers. 

Stir  their  national  pride  and  their  religious  fanaticism,  and 
they  evince  a  force  before  which  Europe's  best  troops  may 
well  hesitate  ;  witness  the  valor  at  Plevna.  When  the  whole 
history  of  that  war  is  known,  it  is  more  than  probable  that 


412  Turkey  and  the  Turks. 

Russian  gold  rather  than  Russian  arms  will  be  found  to  have 
opened  the  way  from  the  Danube  to  San  Stefano. 

What  is  to  be  the  future  of  Turkey?  Will  the  Sultan's 
rule  continue,  or  will  his  Empire  be  apportioned  among  the 
Powers  of  Europe.  Much  will  depend  upon  any  agreement 
among  those  Powers,  but  no  agreement  will  be  carried  out 
successfully  which  does  not  take  into  consideration  the 
integrity  of  Turkey  proper,  both  in  its  topography  and  in  the 
national  character  of  the  ruling  class  to  whom  those  who 
know  them  best  feel  like  applying  the  words  descriptive  of 
the  famous  Scotch  chieftain, 

"  Ower  gude  for  banning,  ower  bad  for  blessing." 


CHAPTER   XXIX. 

The  Turkish  Government. 

The  Grovernment  of  Turkey  under  the  supreme  rule  of  the 
Sultan  is  composed  of  the  Sublime  Porte  and  the  Council  of 
State.  Under  these  there  is  the  administration  of  the  depart- 
ments in  the  Central  Government  and  of  the  provinces 
throughout  the  Empire.  There  is,  however,  an  informal,  yet 
none  the  less  powerful  element,  known  sometimes  as  the 
Privy  Council,  or  the  Palace  Party. 

The  Sublime  Porte,  which  derives  its  name  from  the  gate 
where  the  early  Sultans  held  their  audiences,  and  which  enters 
the  Seraglio  grounds  near  the  mosque  of  St  Sophia,  cor- 
responds very  closely  to  the  Cabinets  of  other  countries.  Its 
officers  are  the  Grand  Vizier,  the  Sheik-ul-Islam,  the  Min- 
isters of  the  Interior,  of  War,  Evkaf,  Public  Instruction, 
Public  Works,  Foreign  Affairs,  Finance,  Marine,  Justice  and 
the  Civil  List,  and  the  President  of  the  Council  of  State. 

The  Grand  Vizier  receives  his  appointment  immediately 
from  the  Sultan  and  makes  up  his  own  Cabinet,  though  with 
the  Sultan's  approval.  He  has  no  particular  portfolio  but 
presides  over  the  general  Government,  and  his  word  is  ordi- 
narily all-powerful  in  any  of  the  departments.  The  Sheik-ul- 
Islam  also  nominally  receives  his  appointment  direct  from  the 
Sultan,  but  in  most  cases  is  the  choice  of  the  Grand  Vizier. 
He  is  not,  as  is  so  often  supposed,  the  head  of  the  Moslem 
religion,  but  is  the  representative  in  this  Cabinet  of  the  Ulema, 
the  general  body  of  teachers  of  Moslem  law,  having  no  very 
definite  organization  in  themselves  and  yet  exerting  as  a  mass 
a  very  powerful  influence  over  the  Empire. 

413 


414  The  Turkish  Govern?nent. 

The  Sheik-ul-Islam  has  comparatively  little  influence, 
excep^  when  there  is  a  necessity  for  the  interpretation  of. 
Moslem  law  in  the  conduct  of  the  Government;  then  he 
becomes  an  important  member.  The  most  noted  instances 
of  this  in  late  years  have  been  in  connection  with  the  deposi- 
tion of  Sultans  Abdul  Aziz  or  Murad.  In  those  cases  the 
Sheik-ul-Islam  prepared  the  decree,  or  fetvah,  which  declared 
the  Sultan  unfit  to  rule,  and  authorized  his  deposition  by  the 
Cabinet. 

The  other  members  of  the  Sublime  Porte  conduct  their 
departments  in  much  the  same  way  as  in  other  Governments. 
Two  only  require  special  mention :  the  Department  of  Public 
Instruction  is  most  important,  including  as  it  does  the  Board 
of  Censors,  who  have  the  right  to  pass  upon  the  publication 
or  importation  of  all  literary  matter,  and  can  decree  the  sup- 
pression or  confiscation  of  any  newspaper  or  of  any  book 
which  they  think  is  derogatory  to  the  interests  of  the  Empire. 

A  Peculiar  Function  of  Government. 

The  Department  of  Evkaf  is  peculiar  to  Turkish  adminis- 
tration. It  has  to  do  with  the  care  of  the  great  amount  of 
property  vested  in  the  mosques.  Under  Turkish  law  property 
which  in  other  states  would  revert  to  the  Government,  reverts 
usually  to  the  nearest  mosque,  and  individuals,  as  an  act  of 
piety,  frequently  deed  real  estate  or  other  property  to  the 
mosques,  which  thus  have  become  immensely  wealthy.  This 
property  may  be  purchased  on  condition  of  the  payment 
of  rent  to  the  mosque  or  of  an  annuity  to  any  persons 
specified  in  the  deed  by  which  the  property  is  handed  to  the 
mosque. 

The  income  of  this  department  has  been  somewhat  reduced 
of  late  years  by  the  seizure  of  a  considerable  portion  of  it  by 
the  Government.     Under  this  same  department  comes  also 


The  Turkish  Government  415 

the  care  of  the  general  expenses  for  Mohammedan  worship, 
such  as  the  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  the  public  reading  of  the 

Koran,  etc. 

An  Imposing  Council. 

The  Council  of  State  is  composed  of  a  large  number  of 
prominent  men,  most  of  whom  have  at  one  t'me  or  another 
held  office  in  the  Cabinet.  They  are  called  together  only  on 
special  occasions  of  difficulty  requiring  their  consultation. 
Their  President  has  his  seat  in  the  Cabinet. 

Closely  connected  with  the  Sultan  himself  is  a  sort  of  un- 
oficial  Privy  Council,  composed  of  the  various  Palace  officials, 
s  '.ch  as  the  Introducer  of  Ambassadors,  the  Private  Secretary, 
tind  such  members  of  the  Council  of  State,  or  perhaps  of  the 
Cabinet,  as  are  in  particular  favor  with  the  Sultan,  or  upon 
whose  advice  and  information  he  relies  particularly.  Not 
formally  connected  with  these,  and  yet  at  different  times  ex- 
erting considerable  influence,  are  various  ecclesiastics,  or 
dervishes,  who  gather  from  different  parts  of  the  Empire,  and 
who  represent  before  the  Sultan  his  widely  extended  Moslem 
constituency. 

Usually  these  are  men  of  great  shrewdness,  and  sometimes 
they  have  exerted  almost  boundless  influence  over  the  Sultan. 
In  previous  reigns  the  chief  Eunuch  of  the  palace  and  also  the 
Queen  Mother  have  exercised  great  power;  but  that  has  not 
been  characteristic  of  the  present  reign. 

The  judicial  system  of  the  Turkish  Government  is  complex. 
During  the  present  century  the  Napoleon  code  has  been 
introduced  and  made  the  basis  of  a  system  of  courts  very  sim- 
ilar to  those  of  European  countries.  The  original  Moslem 
courts,  however,  presided  over  by  the  cadis,  have  not  entirely 
disappeared,  especially  in  the  provinces ;  and  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  is  often  a  strange  combination  of  the  two 
systems. 


416  The  Turkish  Government. 

For  administrative  purposes  the  Empire  is  divided  into 
vilayets,  these  again  into  mustessaiifliks  and  kaimakamliks, 
and  these  again  into  mudirliks.  The  two.  highest  grades  are 
governed  by  pashas  appointed  in  Constantinople ;  the  third 
grade,  or  kaimakam,  receives  his  appointment  ordinarily  from 
Constantinople,  but  sometimes  from  the  provincial  superiors. 
The  mudirs  are  almost  invariably  local  magistrates.  Asso- 
ciated with  each  one  of  these  officials  is  a  council,  or  mejliss, 
including  prominent  Turks  and  the  heads  of  the  various 
Christian  communities.  They  have  no  official  authority ;  ten- 
der their  advice  when  it  is  desired  to  the  Governor,  and  con- 
sult in  general  in  regard  to  the  interests  of  the  communities. 

The  income  of  the  Government  is  derived  from  customs 
dues ;  from  tithes  levied  upon  all  agricultural  produce ;  from 
the  sale  of  certain  articles,  as  salt,  which  are  Government 
monopolies,  and  from  imposts  on  pretty  nearly  everything, 
and  from  the  capitation  and  exemption  taxes  levied  upon  the 
Christian  subjects.  The  tithes  are  generally  farmed  out,  and 
this  gives  occasion  for  the  greatest  amount  of  oppression. 

Taxes  and  Slow  Payraents. 

There  is  no  regular  system  of  collection,  and  when  the 
treasury  runs  low  the  Government  sends  out  a  requisition  to 
the  interior  provinces.  The  money  is  then  collected  in  what- 
ever way  is  feasible.  There  is  no  regularity  in  the  payment 
of  salaries.  The  Government  is  notoriously  in  arrears  in 
regard  to  the  payment  of  employes,  being  sometimes  months, 
and  even  years,  behind.  The  statement  that  a  month's  salary 
is  to  be  paid  becomes  a  matter  of  comment  in  the  public 
press  and  of  general  congratulation. 

The  result  is  widespread  corruption  in  all  departments. 
The  absence  of  salaries  is  made  up  for  by  the  collection  of 
fees;    and   every  official,   from   the   lowest   to   the   highest, 


The  Turkish  Government.  417 

through  whose  hands  any  money  passes,  is  sure  to  keep  as 
much  of  it  as  he  thinks  he  can  without  incurring  too  severe 
wrath  from  his  superior. 

•  Over  this  whole  administration  presides  the  Sultan  himself. 
His  word  is  supreme  in  each  department,  and  he  can  and  fre- 
quently does  override  the  decisions  of  his  Ministers.  More 
than  almost  any  of  his  predecessors  in  the  line  of  Ottoman 
Sultans,  Abdul  Hamid  II.  takes  personal  cognizance  of  the 
most  minute  details  of  his  Government.  The  interests  not 
only  of  his  Palace  and  his  capital,  but  of  the  most  remote  pro- 
vinces, come  under  his  eye.  His  industry  is  proverbial,  and 
to  his  ability  all  who  know  him  personally  bear  cordial  witness. 
He  is,  however,  by  no  means  the  absolute  autocrat  that  he 
appears.  He  realizes  very  clearly  his  position  between  two 
contradictory  and  mutually  repellant  forces,  the  progress  of 
the  West  and  the  conservatism  of  the  East,  If  he  antago- 
nizes the  former  too  much,  he  runs  the  risk  of  losing  his 
Empire ;  if  he  fails  to  keep  in  sympathy  with  the  latter,  his 
Caliphate  is  endangered.  His  position  is  one  by  no  means  to 
be  envied,  and  no  judgment  of  him  can  be  just  which  does  not 
take  into  account  the  peculiarities  of  that  position. 
27 


CHAPTER   XXX. 

Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia. 

WORK  OF  MISS  CLARA  BARTON  AND  DR.  GRACE  E.  KIMBALL. 

From  a  reliable  source,  under  date  of  February  15,  1896,  we 
have  the  following  statement  concerning  the  needs  of  Armenia 
and  the  efforts  for  relief: 

Despite  the  efforts  of  the  Government  to  conceal  the  true 
situation  of  affairs  in  Armenia,  the  facts  are  coming  to  light, 
and  they  are  sufficiently  appalling  to  make  the  civilized  world 
shudder  with  apprehension  as  to  what  may  follow.  All  that 
has  been  accomplished  in  the  way  of  reducing  the  nativf 
Christian  population  by  the  recent  massacres  will  prove 
insignificant  in  comparison  with  the  overwhelming  "  reduc- 
tion" that  is  now  going  on  in  the  2500  villages  of  Anatolia 
(the  official  designation  of  Armenia). 

Not  the  sword,  the  rifle,  or  the  torch  could  ever  have  done 
a  twentieth  part  of  the  havoc  among  these  wretched  people 
that  is  now  being  done  by  exhausted  nature.  Cholera,  cold 
and  hunger  are  the  new  and  formidable  allies  of  the  Sultan  in 
his  war  of  extermination,  and  the  wolves  of  starvation  are 
stalking  up  and  down  the  valleys  and  plains  of  Asia  Minor, 
claiming  thousands  of  unresisting  victims. 

Although  we  still  almost  daily  hear  news  of  slaughter  and 
plunder,  these  reports,  in  the  main,  relate  to  events  which 
occurred  before  the  beginning  of  the  present  year.  There 
have  been  no  massacres  since  1896  began,  and  very  few  dis- 
turbances of  any  considerable  extent  in  the  last  two  months. 

But  railroad  and  telegraphic  communication  in  Asiatic 
418 


Relief  for  Sujfering  Armenia.  419 

Turkey  is  extremely  limited,  and  there  are  hundreds  of  small, 
isolated  towns  and  villages  which  were  almost  obliterated 
during  the  great  Kurdish  and  Circassian  raids  of  October  and 
November,  from  which  the  news  of  their  calamities  is  only 
now  coming  in ;  and  there  are  others  whose  fate  may  not  be 
known  for  weeks  to  come. 

A  sudden  night  rush  of  Kurdish  horsemen,  doors  burst 
open,  furious  volleys  fired  upon  the  affrighted  inmates,  those 
w'lo  came  out  shot  down,  and  the  raided  buildings  looted  and 
left  a  heap  of  smoking  ruins — such  has  been  the  fate  of  hun- 
dreds of  Armenian  villages  whose  sites  are  now  as  bare  as  a 
desert.  It  has  only  been  by  precipitate  flight  that  the  multi- 
tudes of  refugees  who  are  now  wandering  among  the 
Armenian  wilds  saved  their  lives.  Wherever  a  courageous 
defense  was  made  against  the  Kurdish  and  Lazo  troopers  the 
overwhelming  force  of  the  assailants  only  made  the  fate  of  the 
defenders  the  more  terrible. 

Days  of  Blood. 

All  the  world  now  knows  the  story  of  those  dreadful 
October  and  November  days  of  blood ;  but  it  does  not  know 
yet  that  the  last  state  of  the  survivors  is  worse  than  the  first. 
Between  400,000  and  500,000  Armenian  Christians  are  to-day 
homeless  vagrants,  weak  and  emaciated  from  their  long  fight 
against  famine. 

From  Sassoun  to  the  Persian  border,  and  from  Trebizond 
to  Mesopotamia  this  is  the  situation.  They  have  flocked  to 
all  the  cities — Van,  Trebizond,  Erzeroum,  Sevas,  Diarbekir, 
Harpoot,  Adana,  Aleppo,  Mardin,  Aintab — and  they  are  still 
coming.  From  caves  and  rude  huts  in  the  snow-covered 
hills ;  from  rocky  hiding  places  in  the  valleys,  where  they 
have  lived  on  berries  and  leaves  until  the  snow  and  frost  de- 
prived them  even  of  such  wretched  food  ;  from  the  desolated 


420  Relief  for  Sufferifig  Armenia. 

villages,  the  ruined  farms  and  the  plundered  homesteads  they 
are  coming,  because  in  the  cities  they  at  least  hope  to  be 
helped,  even  if  it  be  only  to  a  morsel  of  bread. 

Gaunt  men  and  lads,  feeble  girls,  tottering  mothers  with 
wan-faced  babes,  that  seem  ready  to  breathe  out  their  puny 
lives — they  art  coming.  Van  alone  has  nearly  20,000  of 
these  refugees,  and  the  other  cities  in  proportion.  A  multi- 
tude have  crossed  the  Persian  frontier  at  Khoi,  and  many  have 
reached  Salmas  and  the  neighboring  towns,  and  even  Urumia. 

The  cities  of  Armenia,  having  been  already  raided  and 
plundered,  are  in  no  condition  to  help  the  horde  of  new 
arrivals.  There  is  no  food,  shelter  or  clothing  for  them,  and 
they  wander  aimlessly  about  the  streets  or  congregate  in 
crowds  wherever  there  is  a  prospect  of  charity  being  doled 
out  to  them. 

In  a  few  places  the  Government  is  ostentatiously  supplying 
rations  to  the  starving,  the  ration  consisting  of  a  half  pound 
of  bread  daily  for  each  adult.  Hunger  and  the  train  of 
diseases  that  follow  it  are  mowing  them  down  daily  in  increas- 
ing numbers. 

It  is  now  generally  accepted  as  a  fact  that  the  Porte  does 
not  wish  to  interfere  between  these  pitiable  creatures  and 
their  impending  fate.  Europe  is  excited  when  a  few  thousand 
Christians  are  murdered,  but  the  programme  of  starvation 
can  be  carried  out  without  danger  of  interference,  as  no 
Government  will  lay  at  the  door  of  Turkey  the  responsibility 
for  the  mortality  from  such  a  cause. 

Brave  Men  and  Women. 

Meanwhile,  a  mere  handful  of  brave  men  and  women  are 
standing  between  the  destitute  Armenians  and  death.  They 
are  the  missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  and  thus  far  not 
a  man  or  woman  among  them  has  left  their  post  of  duty  for 


Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia.  421 

the  purpose  of  assuring  personal  safety.  They  have  inter- 
posed between  the  raised  yataghan  and  its  victim  so  often 
that  the  presence  of  death  has  become  famiHar.  At  Harpoot 
the  bullets  swept  through  the  corridors  of  the  American  mis- 
sion, but  the  missionaries  escaped  unhurt.  In  this  spirit  the 
faithful  little  band  has  carried  on  such  a  relief  work  as  has 
probably  never  before  been  attempted  in  the  history  of 
Christian  missions. 

Courage  of  our  Missionaries. 

All  the  other  missionaries  having  been  temporarily  with- 
drawn, it  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  American  workers  to  dis- 
tribute the  funds  collected  both  in  England  and  the  United 
States,  including  a  very  large  part  of  the  English  contributions 
known  as  the  "  Duke  of  Westminster  Fund,"  and  also  the  , 
fund  raised  by  Dr.  Louis  Klopsch  through  his  journal,  TJie 
Christian  Herald,  of  New  York.  The  Westminster  Fund  was 
mainly  expended  in  feeding  and  clothing  the  survivors  in  the 
districts  affected  by  the  Sassoun  and  Talvoreeg  massacres. 

When  the  Turks  found  that  they  could  not  control  the 
relief  funds  they  made  a  stubborn  attempt  to  stop  the  work 
of  relief  altogether ;  but  the  American  missionaries,  by  sheer 
pluck  and  persistence,  carried  their  point,  and  were  permitted 
to  remain  in  the  field.  Not  a  hair  of  their  heads  has  been 
injured,  though  they  have  passed  through  massacre  and  fire. 

"  We  looked  death  in  the  face,  and  it  seemed  sweet  to  us,'' 
said  Dr.  Barnum,  of  Harpoot,  telling  of  the  time  when  the 
mission  house  was  blazing  and  slaughter  raged  on  the  streets. 
"  I  count  it  the  crowning  glory  of  my  life  to  have  been  per- 
mitted to  be  here  at  that  time,"  wrote  Mrs.  Montgomery,  from 
Adana,  where  she  faced  death  in  front  of  her  class  of  girls. 
Of  such  heroic  stuff  were  the  men  and  women  made  who 
declared  that  with    God's   help   and   the   sympathy  of  His 


422  Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia. 

people,  the  Armenians  should  not  be  exterminated  by  starva- 
tion as  Turkey  had  fully  intended.  With  the  small  sums  at 
their  disposal  they  began  to  help  the  neediest  in  their  imme- 
diate neighborhoods. 

Relief  Work  at  Van. 

Relief  stations  were  opened  at  Bitlis  and  Van.  In  the 
latter  city  Dr.  Grace  N.  Kimball,  an  American  medical  mis- 
sionary, began  an  industrial  work  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
employment  to  as  many  of  the  destitute  as  possible,  in  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  goods.  When  her  work  languished 
for  lack  of  funds,  Dr.  Klopsch  sent  forward  liberal  remit- 
tances, aggregating  ^15,000,  to  Van,  with  the  result  that  Dr. 
Kimball  was  able  to  save  many  lives.  Hundreds  of  families 
were  employed  in  her  Industrial  Bureau,  and  to  those  for 
whom  work  could  not  be  obtained  she  gave  food  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  keep  them  from  starvation,  and  clothing  where 
it  was  necessary. 

The  Van  Relief  Bureau  also  supplied  medicine  to  the  sick. 
According  to  recent  letters  from  Dr.  Kimball,  the  Industrial 
Bureau  employs  981  persons,  representing  over  950  families,  by 
whose  labor  4750  persons  are  supported.  They  are  spinners 
and  weavers,  carders,  spindle-fillers,  knitters  and  sewers ;  and 
the  manufactures  are  coarse  cotton  cloth,  woolen  goods,  car- 
pets, stout  jackets,  socks  and  bedding.  The  product  of  the 
bureau  is  sold  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  a  considerable 
amount  being  sent  to  the  Sassoun  Relief  Commission.  At- 
tached to  the  Relief  Bureau  is  a  bakery,  where  free  bread  is 
supplied  to  2500  persons,  the  allowance  per  capita  being  one 
and  one-half  pounds  per  day. 

While  the  conduct  of  all  the  missionaries  has  been  brave 
and  self-denying,  there  is  an  especial  halo  of  romance  about 
the  relief  work  at  Van.     This  district  is  considered  by  many 


Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia.  423 

eminent  scholars  to  be  the  site  of  the  ancient  Eden,  the  lost 
Garden  of  man's  happiness ;  but  to-day  the  province  is  a  ver- 
itable desert,  and  presents  the  appearance  of  having  been 
swept  by  a  cyclone  of  destruction.  The  descent  of  the  fugi- 
tive villagers  upon  Van  was  so  sudden  and  overwhelming  as 
to  cause  stout  hearts  to  quail,  but  Grace  Kimball,  who  has 
proved  herself  to  be  a  heroine,  rose  to  the  emergency. 

This  brave  woman,  despite  official  threats  and  warnings, 
went  out  among  the  fugitives  in  the  streets,  comforted "  and 
encouraged  them,  gave  them  bread  with  her  own  hands,  while 
they  were  pulling  at  her  garments  and  kissing  her  hands  and 
feet  in  gratitude.  She  ministered  to  the  sick,  and,  cheered  by 
her  example  her  missionary  associates  took  heart  of  Grace 
and  joined  in  the  work. 

Those  Armenian  "Dogs." 

Again  and  again  the  Turkish  Pashas  and  Valis  insisted  that 
the  relief  be  stopped;  the  Armenians  were  "  dogs  ;  "  "  better 
let  them  die  ;  "  but  the  greater  the  opposition  the  higher  rose 
the  courage  of  the  American  girl. 

Her  first  step  was  to  hire  a  small  bakery  with  her  own  per- 
sonal funds ;  then  a  small  remittance  came,  and  a  second 
bakery  was  added  to  the  facilities,  and  on  New  Year's  Day, 
just  when  the  work  seemed  about  to  drop,  she  received  the 
first  remittance  of  ;^5000  from  Dr.  Klopsch,  who  also  cabled 
that  sufficient  funds  would  be  supplied  to  meet  all  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  work.  One  can  imagine  the  spirit  of  joy  and 
gratitude  in  which  she  wrote  a  week  later  :  "  How  sorely  we 
needed  the  money !  Perhaps  you  may  be  able  to  dimly 
imagine  what  a  tremendous  relief  we  experienced  when  your 
telegram  came  on  New  Year's  Day.  Many  and  many  a  poor 
villager  has  said  to  me:  '  You  have  saved  this  province  from 
a  terrible  famine.'     The  praise  belongs,  not  to  me,  but  to  the 


424  Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia. 

generous  men  and  women  in  America  who  have  opened  their 

hearts  and  purses. 

"  We  are,  indeed,  the  only  hope   of  this   people   for  the 

Winter." 

Feeding  the  Hungry. 

After  a  while  the  Turkish  efforts  to  stop  the  work  were 
relaxed.  A  very  large  bakery  was  hired,  and  now  Dr.  Kim- 
ball is  fairly  able  to  cope  with  the  demand  for  bread,  at  last. 
As  far  as  known  there  have  been  no  deaths  from  actual  star- 
vation within  the  gates  of  Van. 

All  the  stations,  with  a  single  exception,  are  conducted  by 
missionaries  of  the  American  Board,  Urumia  alone  being 
managed  by  a  missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Board.  Thou- 
sands of  Armenian  fugitives  have  arrived  there  destitute.  All 
the  missionaries  have  sent  in  reports  of  the  progress  of  their 
work  from  time  to  time,  through  the  missionary  boards,  and 
congratulate  the  people  of  America  upon  the  fact  that  they 
are  able,  by  these  generous  means,  to  save  thousands  of  lives  ; 
for  had  it  not  been  for  American  relief  the  Winter  death-roll 
in  Armenia  from  hunger  and  cold  would  have  been  quite  as 
appalling  as  that  of  the  massacres. 

That  this  may  be  better  understood  it  should  be  stated  that 
Turkish  estimates  of  the  situation  in  Armenia  give  the  follow- 
ing figures  : 

Number  of  Armenian  villages 3,300 

Number  of  villages  destroyed 2,500 

Number  reduced  to  starvation  in  villages     .  366,000 
Number  reduced  to  starvation  in  the  towns     75,000 

In  other  words,  a  total  of  nearly  450,000  souls  are  in 
imminent  danger  of  starvation,  and  apparently  have  been 
deliberately  placed  in  that  perilous  position  by  the  Turkish 
Government,  in  furtherance  of  its  policy  of  extermination. 


Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia.  425 

There  are  serious  difficulties  to  contend  with  in  the  man- 
agement of  the  rehef  work  at  every  point.  Harpoot,  for 
instance,  is  a  city  surrounded  by  several  hundred  small  vil- 
lages. The  town  itself  has  been  wasted  by  the  Kurds,  and 
the  Armenia  population  reduced  almost  to  beggary ;  but  the 
villagers  have  met  a  severer  fate,  a  large  proportion  of  them 
having  been  literally  wiped  out  of  existence.  Such  of  the 
survivors  as  can  reach  Harpoot  have  gone  there  in  the  hope 
of  being  fed,  but  the  missionaries  have  to  reach  out  in  every 
direction  in  order  to  succor  those  who  still  linger  about  the 
ruins  of  their  desolated  homes.  This  description  applies  to 
all  the  cities  and  their  surroundings. 

There  are  hundreds  of  villages  that  will  not  be  reached  by 
the  present  relief  movement,  and  in  these  the  mortality  must 
necessarily  be  something  frightful,  for  the  Armenian  Winter 
is  usually  severe,  and  cold  and  exposure  must  already  have 
done  their  fatal  work  among  the  women  and  children.  When 
the  Winter  death-roll  from  these  causes  is  approximately 
ascertained  it  will  be  found  to  be  appalling. 

Places  of  Greatest  Destitution. 

The  centers  of  greatest  destitution  at  the  present  time  are 
undoubtedly  these  four :  Harpoot,  where  the  slaughter  and 
destruction  have  been  greatly  under-estimated  ;  Malatia,  where 
3000  are  said  to  have  perished  ;  Van,  which  is  a  focus  for 
fugitives  from  everywhere,  and  Diarbekir.  These  cities  alone, 
with  their  surrounding  villages,  could  readily  absorb  a  relief 
fund  of  a  million  dollars,  and  the  amount  of  money  thus  far 
raised  has  produced  hardly  any  perceptible  alleviation  outside 
of  a  very  limited  radius. 

The  National  Red  Cross  Association  of  America  has 
decided  to  send  its  agents  to  relieve  the  suffering  Armenians, 
if  the  country  will  support  the  agents  with  money  and  sup- 


426  Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia. 

plies.  Miss  Clara  Barton,  who  is  the  Red  Cross  Society  her- 
self, as  public  opinion  goes,  is  willing  to  lead  the  company — a 
woman  now  sixty-five  years  old,  who  for  thirty  years  has  been 
in  the  midst  of  death  and  suffering,  by  battle,  flood,  earth- 
quakes, fire  and  cyclone,  hastening  to  carry  aid  whenever  the 
call  has  come.  Most  people  know  of  Clara  Barton  and  her 
life  and  that  the  Red  Cross  is  the  symbol  of  charity,  noble 
sacrifice  and  blessing  wherever  men  are  suffering.  There  is 
stirring  romance  in  the  history  of  the  Red  Cross,  the  emblem 
of  the  Crusaders,  of  the  Knights  of  Malta,  who  fought  for 
their  faith,  and  risked  life  for  sentiment. 

Within  recent  years  the  Red  Cross  has  come  to  bear  a 
broader  significance,  since  the  time  thirty  years  ago,  when,  at 
a  congress  of  nations  in  Geneva,  it  was  made  international 
law  that  the  Red  Cross  should  be  the  badge  of  neutrality  on 
every  battlefield,  and  that  only  the  Red  Cross  would  be  thus 
respected. 

The  Red  Cross. 

Already  there  were  organizations  through  Europe  whose 
purpose  was  to  furnish  medical  aid  on  the  battlefield,  to  rein- 
force the  insufficient  equipment  of  the  military  service.  Some 
of  them  were  very  powerful,  but  after  the  Geneva  conference 
of  1864  such  bodies  in  all  countries  were  known  as  the  Red 
Cross,  although  still  retaining  their  independent  titles  and 
organizations.  Since  1864  the  Red  Cross  has  gleamed  like  a 
star  of  hope  on  the  battle-field  of  every  important  conflict  in 
Europe,  and  for  the  last  fourteen  years  upon  the  scene  of 
every  great  catastrophe  to  mankind  in  America. 

Miss  Barton  held  a  position  in  the  Patent  Office  at  Wash- 
ington at  the  opening  of  the  war.  Her  brother  was  captured, 
and  she  determined  to  go  South  and  make  an  effort  to  liberate 
him.  Just  before  the  battle  of  Bull  Run  she  advertised  in  the 
Worcester,  Mass.,  papers  that  she  would  receive  stores  and 


Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia.  427 

money  for  the  wounded  soldiers  at  the  front,  which  she  would 
personally  distribute.  The  appeal  was  so  liberally  answered 
that  she  filled  a  building  in  Washington.  Miss  Barton  went 
to  the  front,  and  after  the  death  of  her  brother  continued  to 
nurse  and  relieve  suffering  until  nearly  the  end  of  the  war. 

Her  work  was  independent  of  the  Sanitary  and  Christian 
Commissions.  On  returning  to  Washington  she  petitioned 
Congress  for  ^15,000  in  "  payment  for  her  services  in  endea- 
voring to  discover  missing  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  communicating  intelligence  to  their  relatives." 
A  bill  was  finally  passed  giving  her  ^15,000  for  expenses 
already  incurred  and  for  services  to  be  rendered,  the  appro- 
priation having  reference  to  her  proposed  search  for  the  graves 
of  soldiers,  unknown,  missing  and  unrecorded. 

Miss  Clara  Barton. 

The  path  to  this  work  opened  for  Miss  Barton  through  the 
records  kept  by  Dorrance  Atwater,  a  Connecticut  boy  in 
prison  at  Andersonville.  He  had  been  detailed  to  keep  for 
the  prison  authorities  a  record  of  the  dead  and  their  burial. 
Thinking  that  the  folks  at  home  would  like  to  know  he  pre- 
served on  rags  and  bits  of  paper  a  duplicate  set  of  records, 
with  the  graves  indicated  on  a  plot  of  the  burying-ground 
After  the  war  Miss  Barton  secured  these  lists  of  15,000  names, 
and  together  they  had  thousands  of  graves  marked  with  head- 
boards at  Andersonville  and  elsewhere. 

In  1869,  nearing  her  fortieth  year.  Miss  Barton  went  abroad 
for  necessary  rest  and  recuperation.  The  next  year  the 
Franco-Prussian  War  broke  out,  and  Miss  Barton  sought  the 
battlefields  and  did  effective  work  among  the  wounded, 
especially  at  Strasburg.  From  Strasburg  she  went  to  relieve 
the  suffering  after  the  fall  of  the  Commune,  in  Paris.  Her 
services  won   her  the    Prussian    Order   of   Merit,  gave  her 


428  Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia. 

acquaintance  with  the  workings  of  the  Red  Cross  agencies  in 
Switzerland  and  Germany,  and  brought  her  under  the  notice 
of  the  head  of  the  latter  society,  the  Empress  Augusta. 

The  Gifts  of  Nations. 

As  a  result  of  this  and  other  visits  and  services  Miss  Barton 
has  received  a  jewel  gift  from  the  Grand  Duchess  of  Baden, 
the  jewel  of  the  American  Red  Cross,  the  Servian  decoration 
of  the  Red  Cross,  presented  by  Queen  Natalie ;  the  Gold 
Cross  of  Remembrance,  from  the  Duke  of  Baden ;  and  Red 
Cross  medal  from  the  Queen  of  Italy;  and  an  English  deco- 
ration, pinned  on  by  the  hand  of  Queen  Victoria.  When  all 
was  over  Miss  Barton  returned  from  Europe  to  find  that, 
while  she  had  won  fame  abroad,  her  work  was  almost  wholly 
unknown  here.  For  four  years  Miss  Barton  worked  to  have 
the  United  States  Government  sign  the  International  Red 
Cross  Convention.  In  1881  Congress  passed  the  needed 
legislation,  and  the  American  Association  of  the  Red  Cross 
was  formed.  Miss  Barton  was  subsequently  elected  presi- 
dent. 

The  first  field  work  of  the  society  was  done  in  1882,  when 
the  Mississippi  overflowed.  Miss  Barton  started  for  the  scene 
with  a  meager  fund,  but  aid  soon  poured  in  and  more 
resources  were  supplied  than  were  needed,  so  that  a  surplus 
was  put  by  for  the  next  great  disaster.  In  the  next  year  the 
Ohio  floods  and  the  Louisiana  cyclone,  and  in  the  following 
year  Mississippi  and  Ohio  floods  again  called  out  the  Red 
Cross  workers. 

In  1884,  the  Government  having  appropriated  ^3000  for  the 
purpose,  Miss  Barton  went  abroad  with  two  other  delegates 
to  represent  the  American  Red  Cross  at  the  International 
Convention,  at  Geneva.  In  1886  the  drought  in  Texas  and 
the  Charleston  earthquake  sent  the  Red  Cross  agents  hurry- 


Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia.  429 

ing  to  the  scenes  of  suffering  and  death.  In  1887  Miss  Barton 
again  represented  the  United  States  Government  at  the  court 
of  the  Grand  Duke  of  Baden,  and  in  the  same  year  she 
relieved  the  sufferers  from  the  Mt  Vernon  cyclone. 

In  the  Johnstown  disaster  Miss  Barton  was  in  the  field,  and 
the  distribution  of  clothing  was  under  the  personal  super- 
vision of  the  National  Red  Cross  headquarters.  The  society 
expended  ^$40,000  at  Johnstown, 

Judicious  Distributions. 

The  Sea  Island  hurricanes  gave  the  last  occasion  to  the 
Red  Cross  for  taking  the  field.  Tide  and  flood  combined  to 
strip  the  low-lying  Carolina  Islands  coast  of  almost  every 
inhabitant,  to  destroy  crops  and  homes,  and  to  destroy  hun- 
dreds of  people.  It  was  estimated  that  30,000  were  in  need 
of  food.  The  colossal  work  of  feeding  this  population  was 
undertaken  a  month  after  the  disaster  by  the  Red  Cross  So- 
ciety, under  Miss  Barton.  Within  three  months  the  society 
received  nearly  ^30,000.  Rations  and  lumber  were  given  out, 
men  paid  in  rations  to  rebuild  ruined  houses,  and  the  district 
made  self-supporting  as  far  as  possible.  The  work  of  relief 
was,  on  the  whole,  well  done,  although  it  met  criticisms.  The 
aggregate  amount  distributed  was  not  large,  and  the  rations 
small.  But  a  little  goes  a  long  way  in  the  simple  life  of  a 
negro  population,  living  on  fish  and  crops  of  their  own 
raising. 

The  associate  society  of  the  Red  Cross  of  Philadelphia,  of 
which  Dr.  Pancoast  is  President,  was  the  first  organized  body 
in  the  field  at  Johnstown.  Thirty  hours  from  the  first  call  to 
action,  supplies  for  almost  any  possible  emergency,  with  food, 
clothing,  medicine  and  a  completely  appointed  hospital  camp- 
ing equipage  and  field  corps  departed  for  the  field.  This 
relief  corps  had  at  one  time  three  hospitals  in  operation. 


430  Relief  for  Suffering  Armenia. 

The  Red  Cross  of  Geneva. 

For  thirteen  years  since  the  United  States  signed  the 
Geneva  Convention,  the  Red  Cross  Association  of  this  coun- 
try has  been  known  chiefly,  we  might  say,  through  Miss 
Clara  Barton. 

The  Civil  War  had  seen  such  aid  to  the  wounded  as  the 
world  had  never  witnessed.  The  gathering  at  Geneva  was  in 
part  due  to  this  demonstration  of  what  could  be  done  by 
private  effort  supplementing  insufficient  military  provision  in 
war.  The  Geneva  Cross,  long  familiar  as  a  badge  of  aid  and 
mercy  among  Hospitallers  and  Knights  of  Malta,  had  been 
used  as  a  hospital  signal  in  the  Civil  War.  The  Geneva  Con- 
vention of  1864  really  did  little  more  than  recognize  and 
embody  in  the  law  of  nations  the  ameliorations  of  the  horrors 
of  war,  which  American  experience  had  shown  possible. 

Miss  Clara  Barton  and  four  members  of  her  staff  sailed  from 
New  York  on  January  22d,  1896,  for  England,  intending  to 
visit  the  international  committees  and  do  their  best  to  secure 
entrance  into  Turkey,  Just  after  they  sailed  word  was 
received  from  Constantinople  through  Minister  Terrell  to  the 
effect  that  Miss  Barton  would  be  allowed  entrance  herself,  and 
that  any  persons  whom  she  might  designate  to  undertake 
relief  work  would  be  permitted  to  do  so  by  the  Turkish 
Government,  although  they  were  not  willing  for  the  Red 
Cross  as  a  distinct  organization  to  take  general  charge  of 
relief.  Upon  arriving  at  Constantinople  Miss  Barton  immedi- 
ately began  her  work  of  relief. 


CHAPTER   XXXI. 

Cause  and  Extent  of  the  Recent  Atrocities. 

BY  THE  REV.  FREDERICK  DAVIS  GREENE,  M.A., 
Recently  of  the  City  of  Van,  Armenia. 

It  is  not  possible,  in  the  brief  limits  of  this  article,  to  treat 
the  Turkish  massacres  except  in  bare  outline  and  on  general 
principles.  They  have  been  so  numerous  and  so  vast  that 
many  volumes  could  be  filled  with  their  details.  But  it  is 
doubtful  if  any  good  purpose  would  be  served  by  the  recital 
of  such  a  mass  of  horrors.  They  would  soon  cease  to  be 
horrors.  One  of  the  most  deplorable  results  of  the  recent 
Armenian  atrocities  is  the  evident  and  growing  callousness  in 
regard  to  them,  on  the  part  of  nations  and  individuals  who 
hai^e  been  supposed  to  be  Christian,  or  at  least  civilized. 
Perhaps  we  would  be  nearer  the  truth  in  considering  this 
callousness  a  revelation  of  the  real  character  of  the  times, 
rather  than  a  result  of  listening  to  crimes  committed  b) 
others.  This  raises  again  the  ominous  question  whether 
civilization  is  necessarily  progress,  and  whether  the  Chris- 
tianity of  to-day  is  Christian. 

In  spite  of  all  that  has  been  written  and  said  on  the  subject, 
there  are  many  who  find  it  hard  to  comprehend  the  awful 
character  and  extent  of  the  massacres  of  Turkey.  They  are 
such  an  anachronism,  so  foreign  to  the  spirit  of  the  age,  as  to 
seem  unreal — in  fact,  impossible  under  any  European  Govern- 
ment. But  it  must  be  remembered  that  Turkey  herself  is  an 
anachronism,  and  that  she  is  not  simply  foreign,  but  hostile  to 
the  spirit  of  the  age.    This  fact  is  continually  obscured  by  the 

431 


432       Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities. 

diplomats  of  Europe  and  America,  who  persist  in  treating 
Turkey  as  if  she  belonged  to  the  family  of  civilized  nations. 
The  case  is  analogous  to  that  of  a  man  who,  for  political  or 
business  reasons,  sees  fit  to  take  a  thief  into  partnership,  or  to 
allow  a  libertine  to  marry  his  daughter.  As  partner  or 
son-in-law,  of  course,  the  man  has  rights ;  the  mistake  con- 
sists in  giving  him  that  status. 

The  Koran  Sanctions  Massacre. 

In  the  politico-religious  organization  which  is  called  the 
Ottoman  Empire,  massacre  is  considered  a  legitimate,  neces- 
sary and  very  useful  method  of  administering  the  country.  It 
is  sanctioned  by  the  Koran,  which  is  the  foundation,  and  in 
fact  the  constitution  of  the  State,  is  advocated  by  Moham- 
medan clergy  and  teachers,  and  is  executed  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  military  and  civil  authorities,  who  are  duly 
rewarded  and  honored  by  the  Sultan. 

The  Armenian  massacres  that  have  shocked  the  world,  so  far 
from  being  exceptional,  are,  therefore,  exactly  in  harmony  with 
Turkish  theory  and  justified  by  abundant  precedent.  They 
were  to  have  been  expected.  One  might  almost  calculate  the 
law  of  massacre  in  Turkey.  It  recurs  with  the  regularity  of 
a  baleful  comet,  which  seems  to  spring  out  of  nothingness, 
but  which  has  a  fixed  orbit  and  is  impelled  by  a  mighty 
power.  Counting  only  the  Turkish  massacres  in  which  ten 
thousand  or  more  perished,  we  find  that  in  the  past  seventy- 
five  years  there  have  been  five,  recurring  at  intervals  of  about 
fifteen'  years. 

These  outbreaks  were  in  widely  separated  localities,  and 
the  victims,  belonging  to  five  distinct  races,  aggregate  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand.  These  figures  do  not  include 
foreign  enemies  or  rebellious  subjects  of  the  Sultan,  resisting 
with  arms  in  their  hands.     They  were  all  helpless  inhabitants 


Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities.       433 

of  the  land,  of  both  sexes  and  of  all  ages,  and  by  a  curious 
coincidence  were  in  each  case  non-Mohammedan. 

Turkey's  Massacre  Account,  as  given  in  TJie  Armenian 
Crisis,  page  96,  where  the  authorities  are  quoted,  stands  about 
as  follows : 

1822.  Greeks,  especially  in  the  island  of  Scio 50,000 

1850.  Nestorians  and  Armenians,  Kurdistan 10,000 

i860,  Maronites  and  Syrians,  Lebanon  and  Damascus....  11,000 

1876.  Bulgarians,  European  Turkey 10,000 

i894-'95.  Armenians,  Asiatic  Turkey 40,000 

Total 121,000 

In  addition  to  the  above,  there  were  smaller  massacres  of 
Cretans  in  1866,  of  Armenians  in  1877,  and  of  Yezidees  in 
Mesopotamia  in  1892.  It  thus  appears  that  seven  distinct 
Christian  races  in  Turkey,  besides  the  Yezidees,  who  are  also 
non-Mohammedan,  have  in  turn  been  visited  with  this  awful 
experience.  Turkish  statesmen,  like  the  Oriental  doctors 
generally,  have  great  faith  in  blood-letting  as  a  remedy  for 
the  diseases  of  the  State.  They  do  not  trouble  themselves  to 
diagnose  the  case,  much  less  to  prepare  medicine  to  correct 
the  system.  It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  there  is  a  fever  of 
some  kind,  and  that  loss  of  blood  will  reduce  the  temperature. 

Death  to  "Infidels." 

The  immediate  occasion  of  all  these  massacres  has  been 
political ;  but  this  should  not  obscure  the  permanent  under 
lying  cause,  which  is  always  religious.  Why  are  these 
Christian  races  successively  attacked  and  prostrated?  Because 
they,  in  turn,  have  felt  the  stimulating  influences  of  a  higher 
civilization  and  ideal,  and  have  begun  to  show  signs  of  life 
and  progress.  Why  cannot  this  be  allowed  to  go  on  ? 
Because  no  giaour,  or  "infidel,"  has  a  right  to  live  in  a 
28 


434       Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities, 

Mohammedan  state  except  in  subjection — subjection  which 
means  not  simply  submission,  but  distinct  inequalic)'  and 
humiliation.     In  the  Koran,  Sura  ix,  it  is  written : 

*' Fight  against  those  who  believe  not  .  .  .  until,  (i) 
they  pay  tribute,  (2)  admitting  subjection,  and  until  (3)  they 
be  brought  low" 

This  is  a  standing  declaration,  of  war  against  all  Christian 
nations,  the  carrying  out  of  which  is  limited  only  by  ability. 

An  Infamous  Prayer. 

The  statement  is  frequently  made,  and  on  high  authority, 
that  "the  present  Sultan  is  scrupulously  faithful  to  the  re- 
quirements of  his  religion."  While  this  sincerity  and  zeal 
are  to  his  credit,  as  a  follower  of  the  Prophet,  they  absolutely 
disqualify  him  as  a  just  and  humane  ruler  of  millions  of 
Christians.  Let  us  see  what  his  religion  requires  of  him. 
An  official  prayer  of  Islam  which  is  used  throughout  Turkey, 
and  daily  repeated  in  the  Cairo  "  Azhar "  University  by  ten 
thousand  Mohammedan  students  from  all  lands,  is  as  follows : 

"  I  seek  refuge  with  Allah  from  Satan,  the  accursed.  In 
the  name  of  Allah  the  Compassionate,  the  Merciful!  O  Lord 
of  all  Creatures !  O  Allah  !  Destroy  the  infidels  and  poly- 
theists,  thine  enemies,  the  enemies  of  the  religion!  O  Allah  ! 
Make  their  children  orphans,  and  defile  their  abodes!  Cause 
their  feet  to  slip ;  give  them  and  their  families,  their  house- 
holds and  their  women,  their  children  and  their  relations  by 
marriage,  their  brothers  and  their  friends,  their  possessions 
and  their  race,  their  wealth  and  their  lands,  as  booty  to  the 
Moslems,  O  Lord  of  all  Creatures !" 

According  to  this  prayer,  which  is  translated  directly  from 
the  Arabic,  to  kill,  to  plunder  and  to  defile  the  Christians  are 
not  only  legitimate,  but  obligatory.  The  late  massacres  are 
a  fulfillment  of  this  prayer,  which  the  "  Faithful "  have  them- 


Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities.        435 

selves  executed.  The  most  terrible  commentary  upon  the 
moral  influence  of  the  Mohammedan  religion  is  the  com- 
placency with  which  even  educated  and  intelligent  Moslems 
regard  these  awful  and  revolting  deeds.  As  soon  as  the 
Armenian  massacres  were  an  assured  success,  the  Sultan 
himself  is  reported  to  have  become  good-humored,  and  to 
have  lost  the  anxious  look  which  he  had  worn  for  months. 
This  was  due,  no  doubt,  as  much  to  his  having  scored  a  dip- 
lomatic and  political  triumph,  as  to  the  approval  of  a  good 
conscience. 

The  Animus  of  the  Atrocities. 

"  But  how,"  it  may  be  asked,  "  can  the  successful  execution 
of  these  massacres  be  considered  a  diplomatic  triumph  ? " 
The  triumph  consists  in  this,  that  by  disposing  of  so  large 
a  proportion  of  the  Armenians,  the  Sultan  has  at  the  same 
time  disposed  of  the  hated  Scheme  of  Reforms,  which  he 
had  been  forced  by  Europe  nominally  to  accept.  These 
reforms,  though  partial  in  application,  involved,  in  prin- 
ciple, the  civil  equality  of  Christian  and  Moslem,  and  this, 
from  the  Turkish  standpoint,  would  imperil  the  foundation  of 
the  State.  The  mere  asking  of  such  reforms  and  the  intrust- 
ing their  execution  to  the  Turks,  was  a  stultification  on  the 
part  of  the  diplomats  who  demanded  them ;  for  it  does  not  lie 
within  the  power  of  Abdul  Hamid,  as  the  Caliph  of  Islam 
and  the  successor  of  the  Prophet,  to  grant  them. 

By  insisting  that  the  Armenians  should  have  a  proportion- 
ate representation  in  the  administration  of  certain  provinces, 
the  Powers  placed  a  price  on  the  head  of  every  Armenian. 
By  failing  to  protect  them  in  this  critical  position  with  a 
prompt  and  decisive  use  of  force,  they  are  guilty  of  a  share  in 
their  destruction.  The  "  Powers,"  impotent  for  good,  while 
masquerading  in  the  livery  of  Christianity,   have  proved  its 


486        Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities. 

worst  enemies.  But  for  their  assurances  the  Christians  would 
not  have  shown  the  restiveness  and  expectancy,  which  by- 
rousing  the  apprehension  of  the  Moslems,  hastened  and 
intensified  their  vengeance. 

The  Powers  have  not  only  failed  disastrously  in  their  efforts 
to  help  the  Armenians,  but  they  have  closed  the  doors  against 
such  efforts  in  their  behalf  in  the  future.  The  remedy,  owing 
to  the  bungling  method  of  application,  has  been  far  worse 
than  the  disease,  and  is  not  likely  to  be  soon  tried  again.  The 
hope  of  bringing  about  just  this  result  encouraged  the  Turk- 
ish Government  to  do  its  worst.  The  late  massacres  are  not 
unlike  the  tantrums  into  which  an  ill-trained  child  deliberately 
throws  itself  in  order  to  gain  its  ends  when  disciplined  by 
parents  who  are  not  united,  wise  and  firm. 

The  Knot  is  Out  by  the  Sword. 

Such  considerations  as  the  above,  both  political  and  relig- 
ious, have  governed  the  Palace  and  the  Porte  in  returning  to 
massacre  as  a  method  of  settling  the  diplomatic  tangle  and  the 
reform  question  at  the  same  time.  But  lower  and  more  per- 
sonal motives  inspired  the  blind  tools  of  the  Government  by 
whose  hands  the  outrages  were  committed — namely,  the 
Turkish  soldiery  and  populace  and  the  Kurds  and  Circas- 
sians. Plunder  was  the  chief  motive  with  the  latter  classes, 
who  swept  over  the  country  like  a  swarm  of  locusts,  every- 
where declaring  that  they  had  received  authorization  for  their 
raids.  Kurds  seldom  kill,  except  when  resisted  and  to  strike 
terror. 

The  Turks,  however,  while  outstripping  the  Kurds,  even  as 
plunderers,  devoted  special  attention  to  killing,  and  that,  too, 
in  most  cruel  and  revolting  forms.  The  Kurd,  though  ruder, 
is  by  nature  more  noble  than  the  Turk.  The  Turk  has  sensual 
and  truculent  possibilities  that  have  never  been  equaled  by 


Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities.       437 

any  other  race.  These  quahties,  under  ordinary  conditions, 
are  latent,  and  are  often  most  subtly  concealed  by  the  Turk, 
even  at  the  very  moment  when  they  are  in  active  operation. 
While  the  soldiers  were  laboriously  butchering  a  thousand 
helpless  Armenians,  entrapped  in  the  great  church  at  Urfa, 
on  December  28th  last,  their  officers  found  time  to  make  gal- 
lant calls  on  Miss  Shattuck,  the  only  foreigner  in  the  city, 
and  to  calmly  assure  her  that  there  was  no  cause  for  alarm. 

It  is  this  dignified  and  self-possessed  manner  of  the  Turk, 
which  he  can  always  command,  that  has  so  often  charmed  and 
deceived  Europeans,  who  have  had  only  a  brief  and  superficial 
viev/  of  him  in  Constantinople  drawing-rooms.  The  Turk  can 
also  pass  in  an  instant  to  an  air  of  brutal  ferocity  and  appar- 
ently uncontrollable  passion,  if  the  circumstances  justify  it 
and  make  it  safe. 

They  Are  Martyrs. 

The  question  may  arise  in  the  minds  of  some,  whether, 
inasmuch  as  these  massacres  were  perpetrated  for  political 
reasons  largely,  and  for  plunder,  the  victims  can  rightly  be 
considered  martyrs.  The  answer  is,  in  general.  Yes ;  for  the 
crime  of  the  Armenians  is,  after  all,  that  they  are  Christians, 
and  a  change  of  faith  would  have  saved  them.  There  are 
many  authenticated  cases  of  deliberate  martyrdom  inflicted 
publicly,  after  repeated  demands  to  deny  Christ  had  been 
rejected. 

Another  question  is,  whether  Mohammedanism  can  be  held 
responsible  for  these  massacres  and  outrages.  The  answer  is, 
again,  in  general.  Yes,  as  has  been  already  shown.  Even  the 
cruel  and  lustful  accompaniments  of  the  outrages  are  trace- 
able to  the  religion  of  the  Prophet,  which,  like  an  intoxicant, 
turns  loose  the  basest  passions  of  our  nature. 

The  statistics  of  the  recent  outrages  will  never  be  accur- 


438       Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities. 

ately  known,  but  the  most  careful  figures  thus  far  received, 
though  partial,  are  as  follows  :  In  the  table  below,  the  first 
numbers  given  refer  to  the  six  provinces  to  which  the  Scheme 
of  Reforms  applied,  namely,  Erzriim,  Sivas,  Harp^t,  Diarbe- 
kir,  Bitlis  and  Van,  and  the  second  number  to  the  outside 
adjoining  provinces  of  Trebizond,  Angora,  Adana  and  Aleppo. 

Total  population  of  the  six  provinces 3,509,800 

Total  population  of  the  four  provinces 2,388,500 

Total 5,898,300 

Armenians  in  the  six  provinces 827,600 

Armenians  in  the  four  provinces 264,400 

Total 1,092,000 

Houses  and  shops  plundered  in  the  six  provinces    .    .       43,769 
Houses  and  shops  plundered  in  the  four  provinces  .    .         3,247 

Total 47,016 

Houses  and  shops  burned  in  the  six  provinces      .    .    .        1 1,812 
Houses  and  shops  burned  in  the  four  provinces   .    .    .  815 

Total 12,627 

Number  killed  in  the  six  provinces 29,107 

Number  killed  in  the  four  provinces 7,668 

Total 36,775 

Number  forced  to  accept  Islam  in  the  six  provinces    .        36,300 
Number  forced  to  accept  Islam  in  the  four  provinces  .         4,650 

Total 40,950 

Number  left  entirely  destitute  in  the  six  provinces  .    .     247,300 
Numberleft  entirely  destitute  in  the  four  provinces  .    .       43,000 

Total 290,300 

It  thus  appears  that  about  nine-tenths  of  the  outrages 
occurred  within  the  six  provinces  to  which  the  Reform  Scheme 
applied.  The  Sultan  professed  to  accept  the  reforms  on  Oc- 
tober   1 6th,   1895,  and   the   above   figures   show  with  what 


Cause  and  Extent  of  Recent  Atrocities.       439 

energy,  zeal  and  good  faith  he  carried  them  out ;  for  most  of 
the  work  was  done  within  one  month  of  that  date.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Sultan  deserves  credit  for  these 
"  reforms,"  for  he  claims  it  himself,  assuring  Lord  Salisbury, 
in  a  letter  made  public  at  his  request,  that  they  were  being 
executed  under  his  personal  direction.  Kurds  and  soldiers 
have  constantly  declared  that  they  were  simply  obeying  the 
Sultan's  orders,  and  that  this  was  the  case  is  clear  from  the 
fact  that  no  one  has  been  punished  for  disobedience,  not  even 
the  officials  in  whose  presence  the  American  colony  at  Har- 
pM  was  bombarded,  plundered  and  burnt  out  of  home  four 
months  ago.  It  has  repeatedly  been  proved  that  these  out- 
breaks were  carefully  prearranged  by  disarming  Christians, 
and  by  prescribing  limits  as  to  place,  time,  duration  and 
method  of  execution. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

To  the  Rescue. 

BY  THE   REV.   EDWARD   G.    PORTER. 

The  Armenian  relief  movement  began  more  than  five  hun- 
dred years  ago,  in  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  when  three 
Armenian  refugees  found  their  way  to  England  and  obtained 
an  audience  of  the  King  at  Reading,  They  brought  tidings 
of  a  fearful  massacre  by  the  Ottoman  Turks,  who  had  over- 
run Armenia  and  compelled  great  numbers  of  the  inhabitants 
to  submit  to  the  dread  alternative  of  Islam  or  the  sword.  The 
strangers  obtained  generous  aid  from  the  King  and  people  of 
England,  and  went  back  to  the  East  loaded  with  gifts  for  the 
sufferers. 

From  that  day  to  this,  at  certain  intervals,  the  Turk  has 
been  guilty  of  the  same  atrocious  deeds.  Five  hundred  years 
have  taught  him  nothing.  He  is  still  slaying  his  victims  by 
the  thousand,  and  leaving  the  survivors  to  perish  from  cold, 
nakedness  and  hunger.  The  latest  tidings  seem  worse  than 
ever.  It  is  said  that  60,000  have  been  slain,  and  as  many 
more  wounded,  outraged,  imprisoned,  or  abducted,  leaving 
half  a  million  utterly  impoverished.  This  is  a  frightful  tale, 
but  alas !  it  is  too  true.  The  evidence  admits  of  no  question. 
Even  if  no  one  can  give  the  exact  figures,  the  situation  is 
appalling.  So  great  is  the  number  of  the  needy  that  the 
charity  of  Christendom  is  invoked  on  their  behalf 

This  outbreak  of  Mohammedan  fanaticism  began  with  the 
Sasstin  atrocities  in  September,  1894.  The  Porte  did  its  best 
to  conceal  and  then  to  deny  the  report  of  this  terrific  slaugh- 
440 


To  the  Rescue.  441 

ter,  and  Europe  was  slow  to  believe  it ;  but  the  truth  came  at 
last,  and  an  investigating  commission  was  demanded.  It 
proved  a  total  failure,  through  Turkish  obstructiveness  and 
duplicity. 

Finding  that  nothing  was  done  to  relieve  the  distress  of  the 
sufferers,  a  few  friends  of  humanity  in  England  organized  a 
relief  committee  and  appealed  to  the  public  for  funds.  The 
response  was  meagre.  A  few  meetings  were  held  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  elsewhere  in  the  spring  of  1895,  and  emphatic 
resolutions  were  sent  to  our  Government.  During  the  sum- 
mer and  early  autumn  further  details  arrived,  setting  forth  the 
horrors  of  the  massacre  and  the  great  need  of  relief.  Com- 
mittees were  then  formed  in  New  York  and  Boston,  and  a  few 
thousand  dollars  were  sent  out  for  the  use  of  Dr.  Raynolds 
and  Mr.  Cole,  the  distributing  agents  for  the  Anglo-American 
relief  fund,  under  the  protection  of  the  British  Consul. 

A  Carnival  of  Blood. 

In  October  the  reforms  which  England  had  proposed  in 
May  received  the  Sultan's  unwilling  signature.  The  discus- 
sion of  these  reforms  during  the  intervening  months,  and  the 
presence  of  the  European  fleets  in  Turkish  waters,  had  led 
the  Armenians  to  anticipate  speedy  intervention.  The  same 
consideration,  however,  led  the  Moslems,  inflamed  by  fanatical 
zeal,  to  adopt  a  policy  of  defiance  and  extermination.  Within 
forty-eight  hours  of  the  Sultan's  acceptance  of  the  reforms 
the  decree  had  gone  forth,  and  the  hideous  saturnalia  began. 
Under  Imperial  license  the  Kurdish  marauders  and  the  Turk- 
ish authorities  joined  hands  in  a  carnival  of  blood  that  has 
lasted  ever  since. 

This  new  revelation  of  the  spirit  of  Islam  has  encountered 
in  our  country  a  storm  of  indignation.  The  pulpit,  the  press, 
the  Senate,  the  club,  have  freely  uttered  the  popular  sentiment 


442  To  the  Rescue. 

of  abhorrence  for  the  oppressor  and  of  sympathy  for  the 
oppressed.  Every  one  was  asking  what  could  be  done  to  stop 
the  butcheries  and  to  help  the  starving  refugees.  To  the 
former  question — strange  to  say — there  has  been  no  answer. 
To  the  latter  the  reply  was  prompt,  loud  and  clear.  Relief 
was  possible,  the  transmission  of  funds  safe,  and  distributing 
agents  were  already  on  the  field  in  the  persons  of  the  Ameri- 
can missionaries,  over  one  hundred  in  number. 

Urgent  Appeals  for  Relief. 

The  existing  committees  soon  issued  additional  information 
with  appeals  for  money.  All  gifts  were  now  acknowledged  in 
the  papers.  Special  meetings  were  held  in  thousands  of 
churches.  An  Armenian  Sunday  was  observed  by  many. 
Dispatches  from  the  East  and  a  flood  of  private  letters  of  the 
most  harrowing  kind  were  widely  published.  Collections 
were  taken  in  churches,  Sunday-schools,  societies,  colleges 
and  mass  meetings.  A  few  weekly  papers  opened  their 
columns  for  relief  subscriptions.  Of  these  the  Christian 
Herald,  up  to  February  20th,  1896,  reported  the  creditable  sum 
of  ;^23,50o ;  the  Outlook,  over  ;^3,ooo ;  the  Montreal  Witness, 
about  ;^4,ooo ;  the  Canada  Presbyterian,  Toronto,  $^^0 ;  the 
Lend-a-Hand,  about  ;^  1,300.  A  few  individuals,  like  Mr. 
Bogigian  and  Mr.  Gulesian,  of  Boston,  and  Miss  Mary  Ham- 
lin, of  Hampton,  have  collected  funds  privately  to  the  amount 
of  several  thousand  dollars.  Dr.  Field,  of  Bangor,  has  raised 
1^640  in  small  sums  for  Van.  About  a  thousand  Armenians 
in  this  country  have  contributed  from  their  slender  resources 
during  the  last  two  months  no  less  than  ;^33,ooo,  sent  through 
their  friend,  the  Rev.  M.  H.  Hitchcock,  of  Boston,  to  their 
surviving  relatives,  nine-tenths  of  whom  live  in  the  HarpAt 
district  and  are  in  a  most  destitute  condition. 

An  Armenian  relief  fund  committee  of  nine  was  organized 


To  the  Rescue.  443 

in  New  York  in  August,  and  soon  after  enlarged  to  sixteen 
members.  The  object  of  this  organization  was  to  give  a 
national  character  to  the  movement  as  far  as  possible,  and  to 
secure  a  larger  financial  response.  When  the  Red  Cross 
decided  to  take  the  field,  the  National.  Committee  made  an 
agreement  to  supply  it  with  funds,  as  did  the  Boston  commit- 
tee. Each  of  these  committees  cabled  ;^25,C)00  to  Miss  Barton 
on  her  arrival,  and  the  National  Committee  acknowledged  the 
receipt  of  over  ^60,000  for  her  use. 

The  press  has  done  most  effective  service,  and  the  clergy- 
have  been  foremost  in  arousing  public  attention.  It  is  a 
noticeable  fact  that  the  great  cities  do  not  give  in  any  such 
proportion  as  the  smaller  towns  and  country  churches.  Very 
few  large  subscriptions  have  yet  been  received.  Ordinary 
collections  will  not  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  case.  The 
appeal  is  to  business  men,  to  large  firms  and  bankers  and 
persons  of  means. 

Systematic  Collections. 

In  every  city  there  should  be  canvassing  committees, 
appointed  by  the  Mayor  or  the  Board  of  Trade  or  some  other 
responsible  authority,  to  circulate  subscription  ^ists  in  person 
among  the  trades  or  professions,  and  acknowledge  the  amounts 
in  the  newspapers.  Wherever  this  method  is  followed  it 
yields  far  more  than  any  other.  Money  only  is  called  fr  r ; 
clothing,  food  supplies,  jewelry  and  other  gifts  are  not 
solicited.  Such  important  business  should,  indeed,  be  organ- 
ized systematically,  like  a  political  campaign,  and  then  it  will 
not  fail  of  good  results. 

It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  the  funds  sent  by  the  responsi- 
ble committees  have  been  at  once  disbursed  among  the  needy 
in  the  afflicted  districts  of  the  interior  without  the  loss  of  a 
single  dollar.     The  arrival  of  Miss  Barton  upon  the  scene  is 


444  To  the  Rescue. 

hailed  as  a  promise  that  official  protection  will  now  enable 
the  distributors  to  execute  their  sacred  trust  with  greater 
freedom  and  on  a  larger  scale.  It  should  also  be  known  that 
the  expenses  of  the  President  of  the  Red  Cross  and  her 
personal  staff  are  provided  for  from  private  sources.  The 
relief  funds  forwarded  from  this  country  during  the  autumn 
and  winter  may  be  summed  up  approximately  as  follows : 

Through  the  American  Board 1 110,000 

"           "    Red  Cross  (Brown  Bros.  &  Co.)  about  .  .       55,000 
"  other  channels,  perhaps 10,000 

Total , ;gi75,ooo 

The  English  relief  committee,  feeling  keenly  the  failure  of 
their  own  Government  to  discharge  its  treaty  obligations 
toward  the  Armenians,  have  sought  to  make  such  reparation 
as  was  possible  by  means  of  private  charity.  At  the  sugges- 
tion of  the  Dean  of  Winchester,  the  Christmas  offerings  in 
many  churches  were  devoted  to  this  cause.  A  special  hymn 
was  composed  for  the  occasion,  suggested  by  Rom.  16:  20 — 
"  And  the  God  of  peace  shall  bruise  Satan   under  your  feet 

shortlr," 

Funds  sent  from  England. 

The  Duke  of  Westminster,  as  chairman,  addressed  a  formal 
letter,  February  1st,  to  the  Mayors  of  the  United  Kingdom, 
calling  upon  them  to  initiate  local  relief  measures.  In 
response  subscriptions  have  been  opened  by  the  Mayors  of 
Manchester,  Bradford,  Salisbury,  Dublin  and  other  places. 
It  is  thought  that  about  ;^20,ooo  have  been  sent  by  this  com- 
mittee through  the  British  Ambassador,  and  distributed  by 
the  consuls  and  American  missionaries. 

In  Constantinople  a  considerable  sum  has  been  raised 
among  the  Armenians  and  foreign  residents.  Several  of  the 
embassies  have  opened  a  relief  fund.  The  upper  story  of  the 
Bible  House  in  Stambul — a  fine,  large  edifice — has  become  a 


To  the  Rescue.  445 

depository  for  clothing  and  other  goods.  Hundreds  of 
women,  mostly  Armenian,  have  devoted  all  their  time  to 
collecting,  preparing  and  forwarding  the  articles. 

Gratitude  of  the  Sufferers. 

Russian,  Austrian  and  English  steamers  in  the  Black  Sea 
have  given  free  passage  to  the  refugees  from  Trcbizond  and 
Samsun.  No  report  has  appeared  of  relief  work  undertaken 
on  the  Continent  of  Europe. 

The  Armenians  everywhere  are  expressing  the  deepest 
gratitude  for  what  the  people  of  America  are  doing.  Far 
more,  however,  needs  yet  to  be  done,  if  we  would  save  the 
remnant  of  this  long- oppressed  nation,  whose  martyrs  have 
stood  so  valiantly  for  the  faith  of  the  Cross  on  the  outermost 
borders  of  Christendom. 

In  reference  to  the  above  relief  work,  The  Independent 
makes  the  following  statement : 

It  is  of  no  use  to  mince  words  in  the  matter.  We  have 
here  recounted  the  worst  cruelties  of  which  fanatical  hatred  is 
capable.  The  Turkish  Government  had  come  to  believe  that 
there  was  danger  of  an  Armenian  uprising.  Instead  of 
attempting  to  arrest  and  punish  those  who  incited  it, 
they  determined  to  crush  out  by  pillage  and  slaughter,  by 
abduction  of  women  and  the  forced  conversion  of  men,  the 
Armenian  population  itself;  they  determined  that  there  should 
be  no  Armenian  question  in  the  future,  and  for  a  year  and  a 
half  the  slaughters  have  been  going  on  and  have  not  yet 
ceased. 

The  very  day  that  we  write  we  receive  news  of  late  mas- 
sacres in  Birejik  which  have  nearly  or  quite  wiped  out  the 
Christian  population  by  sword  and  forced  conversion,  and 
converted  the  Protestant  school  into  a  Turkish  college.  For 
all  this  the  larger  part  of  Christendom  does  not  seem  to  care. 


446  To  the  Rescue. 

Russia  is  perfectly  indifferent  to  the  wails  of  Christians,  and 
only  considers  whether  it  can  get  Constantinople ;  Germany 
is  shockingly  apathetic,  and  France  as  yet  is  silent,  both 
fawning  on  Russia.  Possibly  France  may  awake ;  for  we 
observe  that  within  the  last  two  or  three  weeks  the  French 
Catholic  missionaries  in  Turkey  are  adding  their  terrible  testi- 
mony, confirming  everything  that  had  come  to  England  and 

America. 

Paralysis  of  Governments. 

The  Christian  people  in  England  and  the  United  States  do 
seem  to  be  stirred  up  in  the  matter,  but  they  also  seem  to 
have  no  influence  upon  their  Governments.  The  British 
Government  has  shown  a  weakness  which  deserves  and  ap- 
pears likely  to  receive  retribution ;  and  only  a  few  of  our 
own  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress  appear  to 
imagine  that  anything  more  is  necessary  than  a  passing  ex- 
pression of  opinion. 

It  is  easy  enough  to  arouse  them  on  the  subject  of  an 
insurrection  in  Cuba,  carried  on  with  a  ferocity  which  leaves 
little  to  choose  between  one  side  or  the  other,  and  where 
each  side  has  abundant  opportunity  to  fight  or  to  fly;  but 
the  sight  in  the  sacred  Bible  lands  of  scores  of  thousands  of 
men  and  women  dying  for  their  faith  or  compelled  to  re- 
nounce their  faith  seems  to  excite  but  languid  interest.  The 
old  heroic  spirit  which  led  Christians  to  stand  by  each  other 
appears  to  fail,  or  we  would  see  Christian  powers  rivaling 
each  other,  instead  of  hindering  each  other,  in  their  zeal  to 
avenge  the  Lord's  slaughtered  saints  and  preserve  the  right  of 
Christianity  to  exist  against  the  sword  of  Islam. 

We  do  not  like  to  give  up  the  hope  that  our  Government 
may  do  something  more;  but  at  least  we  must  insist  that  the 
very  amplest  protection  be  given  to  our  citizens  in  Turkey. 
If  the  call  of  humanity,  the  call  of  Christianity,  the  voice  of 


To  the  Rescue.  447 

Christ's  brethren,  sick  or  in  prison,  anhungered  or  athirst,  is 
not  heeded  by  our  Government,  at  least  let  there  be  no  half- 
heartedness  in  compelling  protection  to  be  given,  or  ourselves 
giving  protection,  to  our  citizens  in  Turkey  and  securing 
reparation  for  every  deed  of  wrong  done  to  them.  We  are 
not  among  those  who  believe  it  impossible  to  do  more ;  but 
this  must  be  done. 

And  if  our  Government  cannot  do  anything  for  the  poor 
sufferers,  American  Christians  can  do  something  individually. 
Our  own  missionaries  can  distribute  relief,  and  we  have  sent 
the  representatives  of  the  Red  Cross  also  to  take  charge  of 
this  work,  with  their  advice.  We  are  not  at  all  satisfied  with 
the  5200,000  that  has  already  gone  to  Turkey  from  the  United 
States.  Five  times  as  much  ought  to  be  sent  within  a  month. 
We  beg  our  readers  to  waste  no  time  in  this  matter.  We  beg 
every  pastor  and  every  church  that  has  not  yet  taken  up  a 
contribution  for  this  purpose  to  do  it,  as  desired  by  the 
National  Armenian  Relief  Committee,  and  to  send  the  contri- 
butions, just  as  soon  as  possible,  to  the  treasurers.  Brown 
Brothers  &  Co.,  59  Wall  Street,  New  York,  for  immediate 
transfer  to  Constantinople,  where  they  will  be  administered 
by  the  Red  Cross  Society. 

Call  for  Oo-operation. 

Not  nearly  enough  has  yet  been  done;  the  urgency  is 
greater  than  ever.  The  men  and  women  are  on  the  ground 
who  can  do  the  work.  They  must  be  supported.  Local 
relief  organizations  ought  to  be  formed  in  every  city  and  large 
town  to  co-operate  with  the  National  Conmittee.  This  is  the 
very  least  that  can  be  done.  If  we  cannot  interfere  for  the 
protection  of  the  sufferers  from  slaughter  and  forced  conver- 
sion, we  can  at  least  do  this. 

We  may  think  ourselves  unable  to  protect  that  Armenian, 


448  To  the  Rescue. 

who,  when  threatened  for  telling  what  he  knew,  said  that  he 
would  tell  no  more ;  that  if  called  up  he  would  deny  what  he 
had  previously  testified  to,  and  who  said  :  "  I  think  rather  than 
make  twenty  savages  my  enemies  by  telling  the  truth,  it  is 
better  to  make  one  God  my  enemy  for  telling  a  lie,  and  He 
will  forgive  me  afterward ; "  but  we  can  at  least  cover  the 
nakedness  of  his  wife  and  children.  If  we  decline  to  inter- 
fere to  protect  the  honor  of  mothers  and  maidens,  we  can  at 
least  keep  them  from  starving  afterward.  We  are  ashamed 
if  this  is  all  we  will  do ;  we  are  ashamed  that  Christian 
nations  satisfy  themselves  with  praying  for  the  curse  of  God 
on  such  assassins  and  upon  such  a  Government  and  upon 
such  a  religion,  instead  of  giving  the  utterance  of  their 
swords  and  bayonets  to  God's  vengeance. 


CHAPTER  XXXIIL 

What  One  May  See  in  Armenia. 

BY  FRANK  G.  CARPENTER. 

Millions  of  dollars  will  be  required  for  the  relief  of  Arme- 
nia, it  is  estimated.  Miss  Barton  tells  me  at  least  350,000  of 
its  people  are  now  on  the  verge  of  starvation,  and  that  these 
will  need  support  for  from  eight  to  ten  months.  She  does 
not  think  a  relief  expedition  should  be  undertaken  at  all  with- 
out ;^ 5 00,000  is  contributed  at  the  start,  and  she  says  that 
effective  work  will  require  an  expenditure  of  millions.  The 
Red  Cross  Society  has  no  funds  of  its  own.  It  has  not  ap- 
pealed to  the  people  for  money,  but,  at  the  request  of  the 
religious  bodies  of  the  United  States,  has  merely  announced 
its  willingness  to  distribute  such  funds  as  the  people  may 
raise  for  the  purpose. 

The  amounts  required  for  such  a  relief  are  enormous.  I 
was  in  Russia  during  the  last  famine,  and  the  people  there  ate 
up  between  two  and  three  million  dollars'  worth  of  food  every 
day.  This  was  kept  up  for  months,  and  I  was  told  that  the 
famine  cost  very  nearly  a  half  billion  dollars.  The  private 
gifts  of  the  Russians  amounted  to  ;^  180,000,000.  The  Gov- 
ernment gave  nearly  as  much,  and  the  present  Czar,  who  was 
then  the  crown  prince,  was  at  the  head  of  the  relief  fund. 
Our  gifts  to  Russia  in  food  and  money  amounted  to  less  than 
a  million  dollars.  They  were  merely  a  drop  in  the  bucket  in 
comparison  to  what  was  given  by  the  Russians  themselves. 
In  Russia  it  was  estimated  that  one  person  could  be  fed  for 
five  cents  a  day. 

^y  449 


450  What  On„  May  See  in  Armenia. 

It  will  probably  cost  more  than  this  in  Armenia,  as  all  of 
the  food  will  have  to  be  brought  in  from  Europe.  But  even 
at  five  cents  a  person  it  will  require  $17,500  a  day,  or  more 
than  half  a  million  dollars  a  month  for  the  food  alone  of  those 
who  are  now  starving.  In  addition  money  will  be  needed  for 
clothes  and  shelter  during  the  winter.  The  farmers  will  have 
to  be  aided  in  planting  their  crops,  and  it  is  hard  to  see  how 
the  people  can  be  kept  from  now  until  harvest  for  less  than 
^5,000,000.  In  this  relief  every  c^nt  will  have  to  come  from 
the  outside,  and  if  the  other  nations  of  Europe  do  not  unite 
with  us,  it  is  doubtful  whether  enough  funds  can  be  raised  to 
do  effective  work.  The  rich  Armenians  living  outside  of 
Turkey  will  probably  help,  and  considerable  aid  may  be 
expected  from  them. 

The  Yankees  of  the  Orient. 

The  Armenians  are  the  Yankees  of  the  Orient.  They  are 
the  brightest,  brainiest  and  smartest  of  all  the  people  of  Asia 
Minor.  They  are  superior  to  the  Jews  or  Greeks  in  business. 
The  Turks  say,  "  twist  a  Yankee  and  you  make  a  Jew,  twist  a 
Jew  and  you  make  an  Armenian."  The  Greeks  say  that  "  one 
Greek  is  equal  to  two  Jews,  but  that  one  Armenian  is  equal 
to  two  Greeks."  Another  proverb  current  in  Turkey  is, 
"  From  the  Greeks  of  Athens,  from  the  Jews  of  Salonica,  and 
from  the  Armenians  everywhere,  good  Lord  deliver  us  !  "  I 
met  the  Armenians  everywhere  during  my  travels  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  I  found  them  acting  at  the  heads  of  all  kinds  of 
business. 

There  are  many  rich  Armenians  in  India.  I  traveled  with 
one  coming  from  Singapore  to  Calcutta,  who  told  me  he  was 
on  his  way  back  from  Hong  Kong,  where  he  had  gone  to  sell 
pearls  to  the  Chinese.  I  found  the  conductors  on  the  Egyp- 
tian railroads  to  be  Armenians,  and  when  I  traveled  over  the 


What  One  May  See  in  Armenia.  451 

Transcontinental  Railway  to  Paris  the  guards  on  the  train  and 
the  men  who  took  up  my  ticket  were  Armenians,  who  spoke 
English  and  French.  There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
Armenians  in  Europe.  There  are  a  large  number  in  Persia, 
and  those  who  live  in  different  parts  of  Turkey  are  said  to 
number  about  1,000,000.  There  are  a  number  in  Constanti- 
nople. They  manage  most  of  the  banking  business  of  the 
Turkish  capital,  and  the  large  mercantile  establishments  there 
belong  to  them.  When  the  riots  occurred  in  Stamboul  a  few 
weeks  ago  nearly  all  the  stores  were  closed,  their  Armenian 
owners  fearing  they  would  be  looted  by  the  mob. 

When  1  visited  the  Government  departments  of  the  Sultan 
I  found  that  though  the  chief  officers  were  Turks,  the  clerks 
were,  in  most  cases,  Armenians,  and  the  brightest  man  whom 
I  met  in  Turkey  was  one  of  the  Sultan's  secretaries,  who  was 
of  Armenian  birth.  He  spoke  a  half  dozen  different  lan- 
guages and  was  a  man  of  great  influence.  There  are  Armenian 
engineers,  architects  and  doctors  in  Constantinople,  and  when 
I  got  money  on  my  letter  of  credit  it  was  an  Armenian  clerk 
who  figured  up  the  exchange,  and  an  Armenian  cashier  who 
handed  out  the  money.  The  Armenians  of  Armenia  proper 
are  almost  all  farmers,  and  the  exorbitant  taxes  of  the  Sultan 
have  made  the  most  of  them  poor. 

The  Armenian  Patriarch. 

I  saw  a  large  number  of  Armenian  pilgrims  during  one 
Easter  that  I  spent  at  Jerusalem.  They  had  come  from  all 
parts  of  Asia  Minor  to  pray  at  the  Church  of  the  Holy 
Sepulchre,  They  have  a  Patriarch  at  Jerusalem  who  leads 
them  in  these  celebrations.  He  is  a  tall,  thin  man  with  a 
long,  gray  beard,  and  a  face  not  unlike  that  of  the  typical 
Georgia  cracker.  He  usually  wears  a  long  gown,  and  has  a 
little  skull  cap  on  the  crown  of  his  head.     During  the  Easter 


452  Whal  One  May  See  in  Armenia. 

celebration  his  head  was  covered  with  a  tiara,  which  blazed 
with  diamonds,  and  his  gown  was  a  gorgeous  silk  robe,  which 
was  decorated  with  diamonds.  The  Armenians  are,  you  know. 
Christians,  and  their  customs  are  much  like  those  of  the 
Greek  Church.  They  have  monasteries  and  churches  scat- 
tered throughout  Asia  Minor,  and  they  claim  to  be  the  oldest 
of  all  Christian  people. 

Holiest  of  All  Lands. 

The  Armenians  assert  that  their  country  is  the  holiest  \and 
upon  earth.  It  lies  in  Asia  Minor,  southeast  of  the  Black  Sea, 
and  between  it  and  Persia.  Mount  Ararat  is  situated  in  it, 
not  far  from  the  locality  in  which  these  outrages  are  now 
taking  place,  and  some  of  the  monasteries  claim  to  have  pieces 
of  the  identical  ark  in  which  Noah  landed  upon  this  mountain, 
and  there  is  a  ravine  near  it  which  is  pointed  out  as  the  site 
of  Noah's  vineyard.  The  vineyard  has  a  monastery  connected 
with  it,  and  the  monks  show  a  withered  old  vine,  which  they 
assert  is  the  very  one  from  which  was  made  the  wine  which 
made  Noah  drunk.  He  cursed  it  after  he  got  over  his  spree, 
and  it  has  borne  no  grapes  unto  this  day.  Noah's  wife  is  said 
to  be  buried  on  Mount  Ararat,  and  the  Armenians  trace  their 
ancestry  back  to  Japhet  m  one  long  genealogical  tree. 

They  have  a  tradition  that  the  Garden  of  Eden  was  located 
in  Armenia.  It  was  situated  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  region 
where  the  worst  massacres  have  occurred,  and  it  is  now  one 
of  the  barren  parts  of  the  country.  The  Armenians  believe 
that  the  wise  men  of  the  East,  who  followed  the  star  of 
Bethlehem  to  find  the  young  Christ,  came  from  Armenia,  and 
that  the  star  first  appeared  in  the  heavens  not  far  from  Mount 
Ararat. 

Another  curious  Armenian  tradition  is  as  to  Adam's  fall. 
According  to  this,  when  Adam  was  in  the  Garden  of  Eden 


What  One  May  See  in  Arme^iia.  453 

his  body  was  covered  with  naiis,  hke  those  which  we  have  on 
our  fingers  and  toes.  These  nails  overlapped  each  other  Hke 
the  scales  of  a  fish,  thus  giving  him  an  invulnerable  armor. 
After  the  fall  the  nails  all  dropped  off  except  from  the  ends 
of  his  fingers  and  toes,  where  they  remain  to  this  day  to 
remind  man  of  his  lost  immortality.  The  Armenians  say  that 
when  God  made  Adam  of  clay  he  had  a  little  piece  left  over. 
He  threw  this  upon  the  ground,  and  as  it  fell  it  became  gold 
and  formed  all  the  gold  of  the  world.  The  Armenians 
believe  in  the  Bible,  and  they  are  naturally  a  religious  people. 

The  Armenian  Women. 

The  condition  of  the  women  of  Armenia  is  now  terrible. 
They  have  no  refuge  from  the  Turks,  and  outrages  of  all 
descriptions  are  perpetrated,  ending  in  death.  In  some  of  the 
Armenian  cities  during  the  late  massacres,  the  girls  were  col- 
lected into  the  churches  and  were  kept  there  for  days  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  soldiers  before  they  were  killed.  One  state- 
ment describes  how  sixty  young  brides  were  so  treated  and 
how  the  blood  ran  out  under  the  church  doors  at  the  time  of 
their  murders. 

These  Armenian  women  are  among  the  most  attractive  of 
the  far  East.  I  saw  a  number  of  them  during  my  trip  through 
Asia  Minor.  They  have  large,  dark,  luminous  eyes,  with 
long  eye-lashes,  and  their  complexion  is  that  of  rich  cream. 
Many  of  them  have  ro.sy  cheeks  and  luscious  red  lips.  They 
arc  tall  and  straight,  becoming  soon  fat  after  marriage.  They 
are  very  intelligent,  and  not  a  few  of  them  are  married  to 
Turks. 

These  women  have  a  dress  of  their  own.  They  wear  red 
fez  caps  with  long  tassels,  much  like  some  of  the  country 
girls  of  Greece.  The  richer  ladies  wear  loose  jackets,  lined 
with  fur,  and  long,  plain  skirts  of  silk  or  fine  wool.     In  the 


454  What  One  May  See  in  Armenia. 

province  of  Van,  where  some  of  the  outrages  have  occurred, 
the  girls  wear  trousers  under  the'r  skirts  which  are  tied  at  the 
ankles. 

Some  have  long,  sleeveless  jackets,  or  cloaks,  reaching  almost 
to  the  feet  and  open  at  the  sides  up  to  the  waists,  and  others 
wear  gorgeous  head-dresses,  covering  the  front  of  their  caps 
with  gold  coins,  which  hang  down  over  their  foreheads. 
Girls  often  wear  their  whole  dowry  on  their  persons,  and  in 
massacres  like  those  which  have  occurred,  rings  are  torn  from 
the  ears,  arms  are  cut  off  for  bracelets,  and  many  a  woman  is 
killed  for  her  jewelry.  The  poorer  women  are  hard  workers. 
Nearly  every  household  has  some  kind  of  labor  by  which  it 
adds  to  its  income.  Some  of  the  finest  embroideries  we  get 
from  Turkey  are  made  by  Armenian  women,  the  best  of  the 
work  being  done  by  hand  in  hovels. 

Armenian  Houses. 

The  houses  in  which  the  Armenians  live  are  different  in 
different  countries.  In  many  of  the  cities  of  Turkey  there  is 
an  Armenian  quarter,  and  the  older  Armenian  houses  of 
Smyrna  are  built  like  forts.  They  have  no  windows  facing 
the  street,  and  it  has  only  been  of  late  years  when  the  people 
have  considered  themselves  safe  from  religious  mobs,  such  as 
have  lately  occurred,  that  they  have  built  houses  more  like 
the  Turks.  In  Armenia  proper,  where  the  outrages  are 
going  on,  the  poorer  classes  have  homes  which  would  hardly 
be  considered  fit  for  cows  in  America.  The  cow,  in  fact, 
lives  with  the  family.  The  houses  are  all  of  one  story,  and 
it  is  not  uncommon  to  build  a  house  against  the  side  of  a 
hill,  in  order  to  save  the  making  of  a  back  wall.  The  roofs 
are  flat,  and  are  often  covered  with  earth,  upon  which  grass 
and  flowers  grow,  and  upon  which  the  sheep  sometimes  are 
pastured. 


What  One  May  See  in  Armenia.  455 

The  floors  are  usually  sunken  below  the  level  of  the  road- 
way, and  the  ordinary  window  is  of  about  the  size  of  a  port- 
hole. You  go  down  steps  to  enter  the  house,  and  you  find  a 
cow  stable  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  the  kitchen  and 
private  apartments  of  the  family.  Each  room  has  a  stone 
fireplace,  and  the  cooking  is  done  with  fuel  of  cow-dung 
mixed  with  straw.  There  are  no  tables  and  very  few  chairs. 
The  animal  heat  of  the  cattle  aids  the  fire  in  keeping  the 
family  warm,  and  all  of  their  living  arrangements  are  of  the 
simplest  and  cheapest  nature.  The  houses  of  the  better  class 
are  more  comfortable,  and  in  the  big  Turkish  cities  some  of 
the  rich  Armenians  have  beautiful  homes.  The  Armenian 
women  are  good  housekeepers.  They  are  much  more 
cleanly  than  the  Turks,  and  even  their  hovels  are  kept  clean. 

Queer  Marriage  Customs. 

They  have  a  better  home  life  than  the  Turks.  A  man  can 
have  but  one  wife,  but  the  families  of  several  generations 
often  live  in  one  house,  in  which  case  the  daughter-in-law  is, 
to  a  large  extent,  the  servant  of  her  husband's  family.  She 
has  to  obey  her  father-in-law,  and  during  the  first  days  of  her 
married  life  she  is  not  allowed  to  speak  to  her  husband's 
parents,  or  any  of  the  family  who  are  older  than  herself,  until 
her  father-in-law  gives  her  permission.  Up  to  this  time  she 
wears  a  red  veil,  as  a  badge  of  her  subjection,  and  this  veil  is 
often  kept  on  until  her  first  baby  is  born.  Armenian  girls 
are  married  very  young.  Eleven  or  twelve  is  considered 
quite  old  enough,  and  women  are  still  young  when  they  have 
sons  aged  twenty. 

Marriages  are  arranged  by  the  parents  or  by  go-betweens. 
The  usual  wedding-day  is  Monday,  and  on  the  Friday  before 
the  marriage  the  bride  is  taken  to  the  bath  with  great  cere- 
mony.    On  .Saturday  she  gives  a  big  feast  to  her  girl  friends. 


456  W/uit  One  May  See  in  Armenia. 

On  Sunday  there  is  a  feast  for  the  boys,  and  on  Monday  the 
wedding  takes  place.  It  usually  occurs  at  the  church,  where 
the  priest  blesses  the  ring  and  makes  prayers  over  the 
wedding  garments.  There  are  numerous  other  ceremonies, 
making  the  wedding  last  from  three  to  eight  days.  One 
curious  custom  is  that  shortly  after  her  return  from  the 
church  the  children  present  rush  to  pull  off  the  bride's 
stockings,  in  which  have  been  hidden  some  coins  of  money 
for  the  occasion,  and  another  is  the  placing  of  a  baby  boy  on 
the  knee  of  the  bride,  as  she  sits  beside  the  groom  on  the 
divan,  with  the  wish  that  she  may  become  a  happy  mother. 

Mohamniedan  Fanatics. 

The  real  cause  of  these  outrages  is,  to  a  large  extent,  reli- 
gious fanaticism.  The  better  classes  of  the  Turks  and  the 
more  intelligent  of  the  Mohammedans  would  probably  stop 
them  if  they  could.  The  Sultan  has,  I  am  told,  tried  to  do 
so,  but  he  is  afraid  of  his  life.  He  realizes  that  if  the  common 
people  get  the  idea  that  he  is  false  to  his  religion  he  is  almost 
sure  of  assassination.  The  Imans  and  the  Sheiks,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  Mohammedan  priests,  to  a  large  extent,  rule  Tur- 
key to-day.  They  are,  in  most  cases,  ignorant  and  intolerant. 
At  the  head  of  them  is  the  Sheik-ul  Islam,  or  Grand  Mufti. 
He  is  appointed  by  the  Sultan,  and  the  Sultan  cannot  kill 
him  so  long  as  he  holds  his  title,  though  he  can  depose  him. 

The  Sultan  himself  cannot  be  deposed  unless  the  Grand 
Mufti  so  decrees.  He  is  a  sort  of  a  supreme  judge  in  addi- 
tion to  his  religious  character.  Among  the  Mohammedan 
fanatics  there  are  a  large  number  known  as  dervishes,  who 
roam  about  from  country  to  country  inciting  trouble.  They 
are  walking  delegates,  as  it  were,  for  the  killing  of  Christians, 
They  .stimulate  the  religious  zeal  of  the  people  and  make  vio- 
lent speeches  against  unbelievers.  They  fast  much,  and  they 
have  curious  methods  of  worship. 


What  One  May  See  in  Armenia.  457 

One  class  is  known  as  the  whirling  dervishes  whom  you 
may  see  any  Friday  going  through  their  worship  in  Constan- 
tinople. They  dress  in  long  white  robes,  fastened  at  the  waist 
with  black  belts,  and  on  their  heads  they  wear  high,  sugar- 
loaf  hats.  They  sing  the  Koran  as  they  whirl  about  in  the 
mosques.  As  they  go  on  the  chief  priest  makes  prayers. 
They  whirl  faster  and  faster,  until  at  last  their  long  skirts 
stand  out  like  those  of  a  ballet  dancer.  They  become  red  in 
the  face,  and  some  finally  drop  to  the  ground  in  fits. 

Another  class  of  these  fanatics  are  the  howlers.  There  is  a 
great  organization  made  up  of  these  in  Turkey,  and  they  have 
probably  been  largely  concerned  in  inciting  feeling  against 
the  Armenians.  I  have  visited  their  mosques,  but  I  despair 
of  adequately  describing  their  religious  gymnastics.  They 
work  themselves  into  a  frenzy  by  gasping  and  howling  out  the 
the  name  of  God,  and  the  dervishes  of  the  interior  parts  of 
Turkey  often  take  knives  and  cut  themselves  and  each  other 
in  religious  ecstasy.  They  go  into  epileptic  fits  and  foam  at 
the  mouth,  and  the  most  of  them  think  that  the  killing  of  a 
Christian  is  a  sure  passport  to  heaven.  I  would  say,  however, 
that  these  people  are  the  cranks  of  Mohammedanism,  and  that 
they  are  not  a  fair  sample  of  the  Mohammedan  world. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

The  question  will  fairly  be  asked,  Why  could  not  the  Turks 
lay  aside  their  old  religion,  as  the  Bulgarians  and  Magyars 
laid  aside  theirs,  and  embraced  the  religion  of  Europe  as  the 
Bulgarians  and  Magyars  embrace  it.  The  answer  may  be 
given  in  a  very  few  words.  The  Bulgarians  and  Magyars 
could  embrace  Christianity,  because  they  were  heathens ;  the 
Ottoman  Turks  could  not  embrace  Christianity,  because  they 
were  Mahometans. 

Because  the  Bulgarians  and  Magyars  were  further  off  from 
the  religion  and  civilization  of  Europe  than  the  Turks  were, 
for  that  very  reason  they  were  able  to  adopt  the  religion  and 
civilization  of  Europe  and  the  Turks  were  not.  This  is  a 
case  in  which  we  may  reverse  the  familiar  proverb,  and  say 
that  no  bread  is  practically  better  than  half  a  loaf  That  is  to 
say,  a  half  civilization  stands  as  a  hindrance  in  accepting  a 
more  perfect  civilization.  A  half  truth  in  religion  stands  in 
the  way  of  accepting  more  perfect  truth. 

Experience  proves  this  in  all  ages  of  European  history.  The 
rude  nations  of  Western,  Northern  and  Eastern  Europe  easily 
adopted  the  religion  and  civilization  of  Rome.     No  Mahomc 
tan  nation  has  ever  been  known  to  accept  Christianity;  n( 
nation  that  has  reached  the  half  civilization  of  the  East  has 
ever  been  known  to  accept  the  full  civilization  of  the  West. 
This   fact,  the   fact  of  the   wide   distinction  in  these   matters 
between  the  Ottoman  Turks  and  the  earlier  Turanian  settlers 
in  Europe,  is  the  very  key  of  our  whole  subject. 
458 


The  Turks  and  their  Religion.  459 

The  Turks  are  what  they  are,  and  they  remain  what  they 
are,  because  their  rchgion  is  Mahometan.  It  by  no  means 
follows  that  every  Mahometan  government  must  be  as  bad  as 
the  Ottoman  government  is  now.  For  many  Mahometan 
governments  have  been  much  better.  But  no  Mahometan 
government  can  ever  give  to  its  subjects  of  other  religions 
what  we  in  Western  Europe  are  used  to  look  on  as  really 
good  government.  No  Mahometan  nation  can  really  become 
part  of  the  same  community  of  nations  as  the  Christian 
nations  of  Europe. 

These  positions  make  it  needful  to  look  a  little  further  into 
the  nature  of  the  Mahometan  religion,  and  into  the  relations 
which,  under  a  Mahometan  government,  must  always  exist, 
between  its  Mahometan  subjects  and  its  subjects  of  other 
religions. 

Christian  and  Mohammedan  Faith. 

This  question  is  in  itself  a  perfectly  general  one,  not  a 
special  question  between  Mahometanism  and  Christianity,  but 
a  question  between  Mahometanism  and  all  other  religions.  It 
is  not  needful  here  to  inquire  what  would  be  the  position  of  a 
nation  of  some  third  religion,  neither  Christian  nor  Mahome- 
tan. We  need  not  ask  whether  such  a  nation  could  be  really 
admitted  into  the  European  community,  or  whether  it  could 
give  really  good  government  to  any  Christian  or  Mahometan 
subjects  that  it  might  have.  A  great  deal  might  be  said  in 
answer  to  such  a  question,  as  a  matter  of  curious  speculation. 
But  the  question  is  of  no  practical  importance  for  our  present 
subject.  The  only  practical  choice  in  Europe  lies  between 
Christianity  and  Mahometanism. 

The  practical  point  is  that,  whatever  a  nation  of  some  third 
religion  might  do,  a  Mahometan  nation  cannot  live  on  terms 
of  real  community  with  Christian  nations;  a  Mahometan  gov- 
ernment cannot  give  real  equality  and  good  government  to  its 


460  Tlic   Turks  and  their  Religion. 

Christian  subjects.  The  question  in  modern  Europe  lies 
between  Christian  and  Mahometan,  because  all  the  nations  of 
Europe  besides  the  Turks  are  Christian.  But  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  question  of  the  relation  between  Ma- 
hometans and  Christians  is  only  part  of  a  greater  question — 
that  is,  of  the  relation  between  Mahometans  and  men  of  other 
religions  generally. 

Rival  Religions. 

What  is  true  of  Mahometans  and  Christians  in  Europe,  is, 
or  has  been,  true  of  Mahometans  and  Pagans  in  Asia.  It  is 
true  that  the  opposition  between  Mahometanism  and  Christi- 
anity in  Europe  has  been  sharper  than  the  opposition  between 
Mahometanism  and  other  religions  elsewhere.  And  this  has 
come  of  two  causes  :  first,  because  Christianity  and  Mahome- 
tanism are  more  distinctively  rival  religions  than  any  other  two 
religions  that  can  be  named ;  secondly,  because  Christians  in 
Europe  have,  for  nearly  four  hundred  years  past,  had  little  to 
do  with  any  Mahometans  except  the  Ottoman  Turks — that  is, 
with  the  fiercest  and  the  most  bigoted  of  all  Mahometans. 

Still,  the  relation  between  Mahometans  and  Christians  in 
Southeastern  Europe  is  only  part  of  the  general  relation 
between  Mahometans  and  men  of  other  religions  every- 
where. What  is  true  in  the  case  of  Southeastern  Europe  will 
be  found  to  be  true  in  the  main,  though  it  will  often  need 
some  qualification,  in  every  land  where  Mahometans  have 
borne  rule  over  men  of  any  other  creed. 

The  fact  simply  is  that  no  Mahometan  government  ever  has 
given  or  can  give  real  equality  to  its  subjects  of  other  religions. 
It  would  be  most  unjust  to  put  all  Mahometan  governments 
on  a  level  in  this  matter.  There  have  been  Mahometan  rulers 
who  have  avoided  all  wanton  oppression  of  their  non-Ma- 
hometan   subjects;    but,    even    under  the    best   Mahometan 


The   Ttirks  and  their  Religion.  461 

rulers,  the  infidel,  as  he  is  deemed  in  Mahometan  eyes,  has 
never  been  really  put  on  a  level  with  the  true  believers. 

Wherever  Mahometans  have  borne  rule,  the  Mahometan 
part  of  the  population  has  always  been  a  ruling  race,  and  the 
Christian  or  other  non-Mahometan  part  has  always  been  a 
subject  race.  The  truth  is  that  this  always  must  be  so ;  it  is 
an  essential  part  of  the  Mahometan  religion  that  it  should 
be  so. 

The  Christian  may  freely  embrace  Islam,  and  no  Christian 
may  hinder  him  from  so  doing.  But  for  a  Mahometan  to 
embrace  Christianity  is  a  crime  to  be  punished  with  death. 
Thus  the  non-Mussulman  subjects  of  a  Mussulman  ruler  sink 
to  the  condition  of  a  subject  people.  In  the  case  of  a  people 
conquered  by  Mussulman  invaders,  they  sink  into  bondmen 
in  their  own  land.  They  remain  a  distinct  and  inferior 
community,  reminded  in  every  act  of  their  lives  that  the 
Mussulmans  are  masters  and  that  they  are  servants.  They  so 
remain  as  long  as  they  are  faithful  to  their  religion :  by  for- 
saking it,  they  may  at  any  moment  pass  over  to  the  ranks  of 
their  conquerors. 

Thus  every  Christian  under  a  Mussulman  government  is  in 
truth  confessor  for  his  religion,  as  he  might  gain  greatly  by 
forsaking  it.  Still  it  is  plain  that  such  a  state  of  things  as 
this,  grievous  and  degrading  as  it  is,  does  not  in  theory 
involve  any  act  of  personal  oppression.  That  is  to  say, 
though  the  Christian  is  treated  in  everything  as  inferior  to 
tile  Mussulman,  yet  his  life,  his  property,  and  the  honor  of  his 
family  might  be  safe.  Under  any  Mahometan  ruler  who  did 
his  duty  according  to  his  own  law,  they  would  be  safe,  because 
the  Christian  by  the  payment  of  tribute  purchases  his  right 
to  all  these  things.  But  the  great  evil  of  a  law  which  con- 
demns any  class  of  people  to  degradation  is  that  the  practice 
under  such  a  law  is  sure  to  be  worse  than  the  law  itself. 


462  The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

The  relation  betv?een  Christian  and  Mussulman  under  Mus- 
sulman rule  is  fixed,  not  by  a  law  like  an  Act  of  Parliament, 
which  may  at  any  time  be  changed,  but  by  a  supposed  divine 
law  which  cannot  be  changed.  The  relations  between  the 
Christian  and  the  Mussulman,  that  is,  the  abiding  subjection 
and  degradation  of  the  Christian,  are  matters  of  religious 
principle.  The  law  enjoins  neither  persecution  nor  personal 
oppression ;  it  enjoins  toleration,  though  merely  a  contempt- 
uous toleration.  But  when  the  toleration  which  the  law 
enjoins  is  purely  contemptuous,  when  the  subjection  of  all 
religions  but  the  dominant  one  is  consecrated  by  a  supposed 
divine  sanction,  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  practice  will  be 
worse  than  the  law  ;  it  is  almost  certain  that  contemptuous 
toleration  will  pass  into  an  ordinary  state  of  personal  oppres- 
sion, varied  by  occasional  outbursts  of  actual  persecution. 

The  Law  of  the  Koran. 

So  history  shows  that  it  has  been.  Instances  may  indeed 
be  found  in  which  Christians  or  other  non-Mussulmans  have 
fared  better  under  a  Mussulman  government,  than  the  law  of 
the  Koran  prescribes  ;  as  a  rule,  they  have  fared  worse.  It 
could  in  truth  hardly  be  otherwise.  When  the  members  of 
one  religious  body  feel  themselves  to  be,  simply  on  account 
of  their  religion,  the  superiors  and  masters  of  their  neighbors 
of  another  religion,  the  position  is  one  which  opens  every 
temptation  to  the  worst  passions  of  the  human  heart.  A  man 
must  have  amazing  command  of  himself,  if,  when  it  is  his 
religious  duty  to  treat  a  certain  class  of  men  as  subject  and 
degraded,  he  does  not  deal  with  them  in  a  way  which  carries 
with  it  something  yet  more  than  subjection  and  degradation. 

A  bad  man,  even  an  average  man,  will  be  tempted  every 
moment  to  add  direct  insult  and  oppression  beyond  what  the 
letter  of  his  law  ordains.     And  so  it  has  been  in  the  history 


'1  he  Turks  and  their  Religion.  463 


i3 


of  all  Mahometan  governments  which  have  borne  ru.e  over 
subjects  of  other  religions,  especially  over  Christians.  The 
best  have  been  what  we  should  call  bad ;  and  their  tendency 
has  been,  like  most  bad  things,  to  get  worse. 

The  Christian  subjects  of  Mahometan  powers  have  often 
been  much  better  off  than  Christian  subjects  of  the  Turk  are 
now.  But  in  no  case  have  they  been  what  we  should  call 
really  well  off,  and  the  tendency  has  always  been  for  their 
condition  to  get  gradually  worse  and  worse. 

Propagated  by  the  Sword. 

The  truth  is  that  the  Mahometan  religion  is,  above  all 
others,  an  aggressive  religion.  Every  religion  which  does 
not  confine  itself  to  one  nation,  but  which  proclaims  itself  as 
the  one  truth  for  all  nations,  must  be  aggressive  in  one  sense. 
That  is  to  say,  it  must  be  anxious  to  bring  men  within  its 
pale ;  in  other  words  it  must  be  a  missionary  religion.  Now 
Mahometanism  is  eminently  a  missionary  religion ;  but  it  is 
something  more.  It  is  aggressive  in  another  sense  than  that 
of  merely  persuading  men  to  embrace  its  doctrines.  It  lays 
down  the  principle  that  the  faith  is  to  be  propagated  by  the 
sword. 

Other  religions,  Christianity  among  them,  hav^e  been  pro- 
pagated by  the  sword;  but  it  is  Mahometanism  only  which 
lays  it  down  as  a  matter  of  religious  duty  that  it  should  be  so 
propagated.  No  ruler  wlio  forced  Christianity  by  the  sword 
(Ml  unwilling  nations  could  say  that  any  precept  of  the  Gospel 
bade  him  do  so.  And,  as  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  have 
come  to  be  better  understcjod,  most  Christians  have  agreed 
tiiat  such  a  way  of  spreading  the  faith  is  altogether  contrary 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel. 

But  the  Mussulman  who  fights  against  the  infidel  till  he 
makes  his  choice  between  the  old  alternatives  of  Koran  or 


464  The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

Tribute  is  simply  obeying  the  most  essential  precept  of  his 
religion.  This  duty  of  spreading  the  faith  by  the  sword, 
which  the  Koran  enforces  on  all  Mussulmans,  at  once  places 
the  Mahometan  religion  in  a  specially  hostile  position  towards 
all  other  religions.  And  furthermore  the  whole  character  of 
that  religion  makes  it  the  special  rival  of  Christianity. 

A  Bitter  Strife. 

Without  going  into  questions  of  theological  dogma,  one 
main  cause  of  this  special  rivalry  between  Christianity  and 
Islam  is  because  those  two  religions  have  so  much  in  com- 
mon. The  Christian  would  say  of  the  Mahometan,  and  the 
Mahometan  would  say  of  the  Christian,  that  in  each  case  the 
creed  of  the  other  had  more  of  truth  in  it  than  there  was  in 
any  other  creed  which  was  not  the  whole  truth.  As  com- 
pared with  heathen  religions,  the  strife  between  Christianity 
and  Mahometanism  has  the  proverbial  bitterness  of  the  strifes 
of  kinsfolk. 

A  few  plain  facts  show  the  special  rivalry  of  the  two  reli- 
gions. Many  heathen  nations  have  embraced  Christianity, 
and  many  have  embraced  Mahometanism.  They  have  done 
so  in  both  cases,  sometimes  freely,  sometimes  by  force.  And 
in  both  cases  they  have,  by  embracing  either  Christianity  or 
Mahometanism,  raised  themselves  in  every  way,  moral,  social, 
and  religious.  The  advantage  has  been  so  clearly  on  the  side 
of  the  Christian  or  Mahometan  teacher  that  the  heathens 
themselves  have  come  to  perceive  it.  But  no  Christian  nation 
has  ever  embraced  Mahometanism  ;  no  Mahometan  nation  has 
ever  embraced  Christianity.  For  they  are  distinctly  rival  reli- 
gions, and  not  only  rival  religions,  but  religions  which  repre- 
sent rival  systems  of  social  and  political  life. 

Each  holds  itself  to  be  theologically  the  one  truth ;  each 
believes  itself  to  represent  a  higher  and  better  civil  and  social 


The  Turks  and  their  Religion.  465 

system.  And  the  Mahometan  further  believes  that  his  civil 
and  social  system  is  directly  of  divine  authority.  Precepts 
which  were  admirable  in  the  time  and  place  where  they  were 
first  given,  precepts  which  were  a  great  reform  when  Mahomet 
first  preached  them  to  the  Arabs  of  the  seventh  century,  have 
been  forced,  wherever  the  Mahometan  power  has  spread  itself, 
upon  all  nations  for  all  time.  Hence,  while  a  Christian  gov- 
ernment is  simply  bound  to  shape  its  conduct  according  to 
the  moral  precepts  of  the  Gospel,  a  Mahometan  government 
is  bound  to  enforce  the  Koran  as  the  law  of  the  land. 

Hence,  too,  while  the  Gospel  is  altogether  silent  about  the 
relations  between  the  spiritual  and  temporal  powers,  while 
Christian  nations  have,  therefore,  settled  that  question  in 
different  ways  at  different  times,  the  Mahometan  religion 
settles  it  in  one  way  for  all  time.  Wherever  the  Mahometan 
system  is  fully  carried  out,  the  spiritual  power  carries  the 
temporal  power  with  it. 

Every  Act  is  Religious. 

The  successor  of  the  Prophet,  the  Caliph,  is  Pope  and 
Emperor  in  one.  In  the  Mahometan  system  there  is  no  dis- 
tinction between  Church  and  State,  no  distinction  between 
religious  and  civil  duty.  Every  action  of  a  good  Mussulman 
is  not  only  done  from  a  religious  motive,  but  is  done  directly 
as  a  religious  act.  From  this  spring  both  the  best  and  the 
worst  features  of  the  Mahometan  system.  This  carrying  of 
religion  into  everything,  the  swallowing  up,  as  one  may  say, 
of  the  secular  life  in  the  religious  life,  leads  to  much  that  is 
good  in  the  relations  of  Mahometans  towards  one  another. 

A  good  and  earnest  Mahometan,  who  carefully  follows  the 
precepts  of  his  own  law,  must,  at  least  towards  men  of  his 
own  faith,  practice  many  of  the  moral  virtues.  The  Mussul- 
man too  is  never  ashamed  of  his  religion  or  of  any  of  the 
30 


466  The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

observances  which  it  enjoins.  And  this  is  certainly  more 
than  we  can  say  of  all  Christians.  In  short,  if  Islam  had 
never  gone  beyond  Arabia,  we  might  have  reckoned  Mahomet 
among  the  greatest  benefactors  of  mankind. 

The  only  fault  which  could  in  such  a  case  have  been  laid 
to  the  charge  of  his  system  would  be  that,  in  reforming  the 
old  evils  of  the  Eastern  world,  polygamy  and  slavery,  he  had 
forever  consecrated  them.  The  worst  that  we  could  have 
said  of  Islam  within  its  own  peninsula  would  have  been  that 
it  was  so  great  a  reform  as  to  make  a  still  greater  reform  alto- 
gether hopeless. 

Bad  Feattires. 

But  this  very  feature  which  brings  out  so  much  good  in  the 
relations  of  Mahometans  to  one  another  is  the  very  one  which, 
before  all  others,  makes  Mahometanism  the  worst  of  all 
religions  in  its  relation  to  men  of  any  other  religion.  The 
feeling  of  exclusive  religious  pride  and  religious  zeal  which 
it  engenders  is  very  like  that  spirit  of  exclusive  patriotic  zeal 
and  pride  which  may  be  seen  in  the  history  of  various 
nations.  The  Mahometan  has  something  in  common  with 
the  old  Roman.  The  good  and  the  bad  features  of  the  old 
Roman  character  sprang  from  the  same  source.  The  Roman 
commonwealth  was  to  him  what  the  creed  of  Islam  is  to  the 
sincere  Mahometan.  For  the  Roman  commonwealth  he 
would  freely  give  himself,  his  life,  and  all  that  he  had.  To- 
wards his  fellow-citizens  of  that  commonwealth  he  practiced 
many  virtues. 

But  as  he  was  ready  to  sacrifice  himself  to  the  common- 
wealth, so  he  was  equally  ready  to  sacrifice  everything  else. 
The  rights  of  other  nations,  the  very  faith  and  honor  of  Rome 
herself,  were  as  nothing  in  his  eyes,  if  he  deemed  that  the 
greatness  of  the  commonwealth  could  be  advanced  by  disre- 


The  Turks  and  their  Religion.  467 

garding  them.  So  it  is  with  the  Mahometan  religion.  No 
religion  has  ever  called  forth  more  intense  faith,  more  self- 
sacrificing  zeal,  on  the  part  of  its  own  professors.  But  the 
one  precept  which  corrupts  all,  the  precept  which  bids  the 
true  believer  to  fight  against  the  infidel,  turns  that  very- 
faith  and  zeal  which  have  in  them  so  much  to  be  admired 
into  the  crudest  instruments  of  oppression  against  men  of  all 
other  creeds. 

Animus  of  the  Orimes. 

At  this  stage  it  may  very  likely  be  asked,  and  that  not 
unfairly,  whether  it  is  meant  to  charge  all  Mahometan  nations 
and  all  Mahometan  governments  with  the  crimes  which  dis- 
grace the  rule  of  the  Ottoman  Turks.  The  answer  is  easy. 
If  it  is  meant  to  ask  whether  all  Mahometan  nations  and 
governments  have  been  guilty  of  those  crimes  in  the  same 
degree,  we  may  unhesitatingly  answer,  No.  There  is  a  vast 
difference  between  one  Mahometan  nation  or  government  and 
another,  just  as  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  one  Chris- 
tian or  Pagan  nation  or  government  and  another.  But  it  is 
none  the  less  true  that  the  crimes  which  mark  the  Ottoman 
rule  spring  directly  from  the  principles  of  the  Mahometan 
religion.  They  show  the  worst  tendencies  of  that  religion 
carried  out  in  their  extremest  shape. 

There  have  been  other  Mahometan  powers  under  which 
those  tendencies  have  not  been  allowed  to  reach  the  same 
growth.  That  is  to  say,  there  have  been  Mahometan  govern- 
ments which  have  been  very  far  from  being  so  bad  as  that  of 
the  Ottoman  Turks.  But  under  every  Mahometan  govern- 
ment those  tendencies  must  exist  in  some  degree ;  therefore, 
while  some  Mahometan  governments  have  been  far  better 
than  others,  no  Mahometan  government  can  be  really  good 
according  to  our  standard. 


468  The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

For  no  Mahometan  government  which  rules  over  subjects 
which  are  not  Mahometans  can  give  really  equal  rights  to  all 
its  subjects.  The  utmost  that  the  best  Mahometan  ruler  can 
do  is  to  save  his  subjects  of  other  religions  from  actual  perse- 
cution, from  actual  personal  oppression  ;  he  cannot  save  them 
from  degradation.  He  cannot,  without  forsaking  the  principles 
of  his  own  religion,  put  them  on  the  same  level  as  Mussul- 
mans. The  utmost  that  he  can  do  is  to  put  his  non-Mussul- 
man subjects  in  a  state  which,  in  every  Western  country, 
would  be  looked  upon  as  fully  justifying  them  in  revolting 
against  his  rule.  And,  as  we  have  seen,  the  tendencies  to 
treat  them  worse  than  this  are  almost  irresistible.  Among 
the   Ottomans   those   tendencies    have    reached   their  fullest 

development. 

The  Ottoman  Power. 

A  rude  people,  a  bigoted  people,  in  its  beginning  a  band  of 
adventurers  rather  than  a  nation,  rose  to  power  under  a  line 
of  princes  who  were  endowed  with  unparalleled  gifts  for  win- 
ning and  keeping  dominion,  but  who  had  but  a  small  share  in 
those  qualities  which  make  dominion  something  other  than  a 
mere  rule  of  force.  The  Ottomans  have  been  simply  a  power. 
They  have  been  a  power  whose  one  work  has  been  the  sub- 
jugation of  other  nations,  Mahometan  as  well  as  Christian,  a 
power  whose  sole  errand  has  been  that  of  conquest,  and 
which,  therefore,  as  soon  as  it  co^'-ed  to  conquer,  sank  into  a 
depth  of  wickedness  and  we  iknet,  -  beyond  all  other  powers. 

The  Ottoman  Turk,  a  conqi'cror  and  nothing  more,  has 
had  no  share  in  the  nobler  q  :ali.!es  which  have  distinguished 
many  other  Mahometan  nal  :  ns  which  have  been  conquerors 
and  something  else  as  well.  He  has  no  claim  to  be  placed 
side  by  side  with  the  higher  specimens  of  his  own  creed,  with 
the  early  Saracens  or  with  the  Indian  Moguls.  It  would  be 
a  blessed  change  indeed  if  the  lands  of  South-eastern  Europe 


The  Turks  and  their  Religion.  469 

could  be  transferred  from  the  rule  of  the  corrupt  gang  at  Con- 
stantinople to  a  rule  just,  if  stern,  like  that  of  the  first  Caliphs. 
But,  even  under  the  rule  of  the  first  Caliphs,  they  would  still 
be  in  a  case  which  would  cause  any  Western  people  to  spring 
to  arms.  No  Mahometan  ruler,  I  repeat,  can  give  more  than 
contemptuous  toleration ;  he  cannot  give  real  equality  of 
rights.  One  Mahometan  ruler  tried  to  do  so,  and  not  only 
tried,  but  succeeded.  But  he  succeeded  only  by  casting  away 
the  faith  which  hindered  his  work.  Akbar  was  the  one  prince 
born  in  Islam  who  gave  equal  rights  to  his  subjects  who  did 
not  profess  the  faith  of  Islam.  But  he  was  also  the  one  prince 
born  in  Islam  who  cast  away  the  faith  of  Islam.  To  do  his 
work,  the  noblest  work  that  despot  ever  did,  he  had  to  cast 
aside  the  trammels  of  a  creed  under  which  his  work  could 
never  have  been  done.  No  fact  proves  more  clearly  that 
under  Mahometan  rule  there  can  be  no  real  reform  than  the 
fact  that  the  one  Mahometan  prince  who  wrought  a  real 
reform  had  to  cease  to  be  Mahometan  in  order  to  work  it. 

Mohammedanism  and  Culture. 

So  again  with  regard  to  another  point.  It  may  be  asked, 
Is  the  Mahometan  religion  necessarily  inconsistent  with  profi- 
ciency in  literature,  art,  and  science  ?  Here,  too,  a  different 
answer  may  be  given  according  to  the  different  standard 
which  is  taken.  The  East  has  its  own  literature,  art,  and  sci- 
ence, apart  from  those  of  the  West :  the  East  has  its  own  civ- 
ilization apart  from  that  of  the  West.  We  may  deem  that  the 
East  is  inferior  to  the  West  in  all  these  things,  and  history 
proves  that  it  is  so.  But  the  real  point  is,  not  that  one  is 
inferior  or  superior  to  the  other,  but  that  they  are  essentially 
distinct.  The  Turk  has  never  won  for  himself  any  share  in 
the  common  intellectual  possessions  of  the  West.  Even  in 
the  East,  no  one  would  place  him  in  these  respects  on  a  level 


470  The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

with  either  the  Arab  or  the  Persian,  but  wholly  with  regard 
to  his  share  in  the  intellectual  possessions  of  the  West.  In 
those  possessions  we  may  say  that  no  Mahometan  nation  has 
ever  had  a  full  share,  and  that  the  Ottoman  Turk  has  had  no 
share  at  all.  The  Saracen,  both  of  the  East  and  of  the  West, 
has  his  distinct  place  in  the  history  of  art  and  science ;  the 
Ottoman  Turk  has  none. 

Aggravation  of  Evils. 

We  have  gone  off  somewhat  from  the  main  track  of  our 
argument  to  mark  how  far  the  special  evils  of  Ottoman  rule 
are  shared  by  Mahometan  governments  in  general,  and  how 
far  they  are  directly  owing  to  the  Mahometan  religion.  The 
answer  is  that  they  are  directly  owing  to  the  Mahometan  re- 
ligion, that  they  must  in  some  measure  affect  every  Mahom- 
etan government,  but  that  the  special  character  and  position 
of  the  Ottoman  Turks  has  aggravated  the  worst  tendencies  of 
the  Mahometan  religion,  and  has  made  their  rule  worse  than 
that  of  any  of  the  other  great  Mahometan  powers  of  the 
world. 

Let  us  once  more  compare  the  Bulgarian  and  the  Ottoman 
Turk.  The  Bulgarians  came  in  as  heathen  invaders.  They 
embraced  Christianity,  and  were  lost  among  their  Christian 
neighbors  and  subjects.  Their  government  then  became  a 
national  government.  The  Turks  came  in,  not  as  heathen, 
but  as  Mahometan  invaders.  They  have  not  embraced  Chris- 
tianity They  have  always  remained  distinct  from  their 
Christian  neighbors  and  subjects.  Their  government  has 
never  become  a  national  government  to  any  but  the  invading 
race  themselves.     It  is  a  string  of  causes  and  effects. 

The  rule  of  the  Bulgarian  could  become  a  national 
government,  because  he  embraced  Christianity,  and  he  was 
able  to  embrace  Christianity  because  he  came  in  as  a  heathen. 


The  Turks  and  their  Religion.  471 

The  rule  of  the  Ottoman  Turk  has  never  become  a  national 
government,  because  the  Turk  has  never  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, he  could  not  embrace  Christianity  because  he  came 
in  as  a  Mahometan. 

It  is  a  fact  well  worthy  of  remembrance  that  both  the 
Bulgarians,  and  somewhat  later  the  Russians,  when  they 
became  dissatisfied  with  their  own  heathen  religion,  had 
Mahometanism  and  Christianity  both  set  before  them,  and 
that  they  deliberately  chose  Christianity.  Had  either  of  those 
nations  chosen  otherwise,  the  history  of  Europe  would  have 
been  very  different  from  what  it  has  been.  The  rule  of  the 
Bulgarian  would  have  been  what  the  rule  of  the  Turk  has 
been. 

History  might  have  been  Different. 

The  state  of  things  which  began  in  the  South-eastern 
lands  in  the  fourteenth  century  would  have  begun  in  the 
ninth.  We  need  not  stop  to  show  how  different  the  whole 
history  of  the  world  would  have  been,  if  the  heathen  Rus- 
sians, instead  of  adopting  Christianity,  had  adopted  Mahom- 
etanism. As  it  was,  both  nations  made  a  better  choice,  and 
the  history  of  the  Bulgarian,  as  compared  with  that  of  the 
Ottoman  Turk,  has  given  us  the  most  instructive  of  lessons. 
The  heathen  conquerors  could  be  turned  into  Christian 
brethren ;  the  Mahometan  conquerors  could  not.  And,  re- 
maining Mahometans,  they  could  not  give  a  national  govern- 
ment to  those  of  the  conquered  who  remained  Christians. 

Now  among  those  who  so  remained  were  the  bulk  of  the 
conquered  nations,  the  nations  themselves  as  nations.  Many 
individuals  everywhere,  in  some  lands  large  cla.sses,  embraced, 
as  was  not  very  wonderful,  the  religion  of  the  conquerors, 
and  so  rose  to  the  level  of  the  conquerors.  But  the  vast 
majority  clung  steadfastly  to  the  faith  whose  continued  pro- 
fession condemned  them  to  be  bondmen  in  their  own  land. 


472  The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

Thus  the  distinction  of  religion  marked  off  the  two  classes  of 
conquered  and  conquerors,  subjects  and  rulers,  the  people  of 
the  land  and  the  strangers  who  held  them  in  subjection. 

Had  it  been  merely  the  distinction  of  conqueror  and  con- 
quered, that  might  have  died  out  as  it  has  died  out  in  so 
many  lands.  The  Turk  might  by  this  time  have  been  as 
thoroughly  assimilated  as  the  Bulgarian.  But  the  distinction 
of  religion  kept  on  forever  the  distinction  between  conquer- 
ors and  conquered.  The  process  of  conquest,  the  state  of 
things  directly  following  on  conquest,  still  goes  on  after  five 
hundred  years. 

Thus  the  rule  of  the  Mahometan  Turk  is  not,  and  cannot 
be,  a  national  government  to  any  of  his  Christian  subjects. 
This  must  be  thoroughly  understood,  because  so  many 
phrases  which  we  are  in  the  habit  of  using  are  apt  to  lead  to 
error  on  this  point.  Many  words  which  have  one  meaning 
when  we  apply  them  to  the  state  of  things  in  Western 
Europe,  have  another  meaning  or  no  meaning  at  all  when  we 
apply  them  to  the  state  of  things  in  South-eastern  Europe. 
If  in  speaking  of  things  in  South-eastern  Europe  we  use  such 
words  as  "  sovereign,"  "  subject,"  "  government,"  "  law,"  we 
must  remember  that  we  are  using  them  with  quite  another 
meaning  than  they  bear  when  applied  to  the  same  things  in 
Western  Europe. 

Thus  in  common  language  we  speak  of  the  power  which  is 
now  established  at  Constantinople  as  the  Turkish  "govern- 
ment "  or  the  Ottoman  "  government.''  We  speak  of  the 
Sultan  as  the  "  sovereign  "  of  Bulgaria,  Bosnia,  Thessaly,  or 
Crete.  We  speak  of  the  Christian  inhabitants  of  those  coun- 
tries as  the  Sultan's  "  subjects."  His  subjects  they  undoubt- 
edly are  in  one  sense ;  but  it  is  in  a  sense  quite  different  from 
that  which  the  word  bears  in  any  Western  kingdom. 

The  word  "  subject "  has  two  quite  different  meanings  when 


The  Turks  and  their  Religion.  473 

we  speak  of  a  Turkish  subject  and  when  we  speak  of  a  British 
subject.  When  we  call  an  Englishman  a  British  subject,  we 
mean  that  he  -is  a  member  of  the  British  state,  and  we  call 
him  subject  rather  than  citizen  simply  because  the  head  of 
the  British  state  is  a  king  or  queen  and  not  a  republican 
magistrate.  Every  British  subject  is  the  member  of  a  body 
of  which  the  Queen  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  is  the  head. 
But  if  we  call  a  Bulgarian  an  Ottoman  subject,  it  does  not 
mean  that  he  is  the  member  of  a  body  of  which  the  Ottoman 
Sultan  is  the  head.  It  means  that  he  is  the  member  of  a 
body  which  is  held  in  bondage  by  the  body  of  which  the 
Ottoman  Sultan  is  the  head.  It  does  not  simply  mean  that 
he  is  a  subject  of  the  Grand  Turk  as  a  political  ruler.  It 
means  that  he  is  also  subject  to  all  the  lesser  Turks  as  his 
daily  oppressors. 

Peculiar  form  of  Government. 

If  we  speak  of  "  government,"  the  "  Turkish  government," 
and  the  like,  the  words  are  apt  to  suggest,  often  uncon- 
sciously, that  they  have  the  same  meaning  when  they  are 
applied  to  Eastern  Europe  as  they  have  when  applied  to 
Western  Europe.  What  is  understood  by  "  government "  in 
Western  Europe  is  the  administration  of  the  law.  The  gov- 
ernment is  the  body  which  protects  those  who  obey  the  law, 
and  which  punishes  those  who  break  it.  And  in  all  the 
countries  of  Western  Europe,  whether  they  are  called  king- 
doms or  commonwealths,  the  nation  itself  has  some  share, 
more  or  less  perfect,  more  or  less  direct,  in  appointing  and 
controlling  both  those  who  make  the  law  and  those  who 
administer  it.  When  this  is  the  case,  it  matters  nothing  for 
our  purpose  whether  the  state  is  called  a  kingdom  or  a  com- 
monwealth, whether  the  mass  of  the  nation  are  spoken  of  as 
"  subjects  "  or  as  "  citizens." 


474  The  Turks  and  their  Religion. 

For  our  purpose,  for  the  comparison  between  Eastern  and 
Western  Europe,  "  subject "  and  "citizen"  mean  the  same 
thing.  We  speak  of  a  British  "subject"  and  we  speak  of  a 
French  "  citizen ;"  but  the  use  of  the  two  different  words 
simply  marks  the  difference  of  the  form  of  the  executive  in 
the  two  countries.  "  Subject "  and  "  citizen  "  ahke  mean  a 
man  who  is  a  member  of  a  political  community,  and  who  has, 
or  may  by  his  own  act  acquire,  a  share  in  the  choice  of 
those  who  make  and  who  administer  the  law. 

The  duties  of  the  sovereign  and  of  the  subject  are  cor- 
relative. The  subject  owes  allegiance  to  the  sovereign  who 
gives  him  protection  ;  the  sovereign  owes  protection  to  the 
subject  who  lives  under  his  allegiance.  All  this  applies  in 
its  fulness  to  all  constitutional  states,  whether  they  are  called 
kingdoms  or  commonwealths. 

It  applies  in  a  less  degree  even  to  despotic  states,  so  far  as 
the  despotic  sovereign  is  really  the  head  of  the  nation  and 
has  interests  and  feelings  in  common  with  the  nation.  But  in 
Southeastern  Europe,  under  the  rule  of  the  Turk,  there  is 
nothing  which  answers  to  the  state  of  things  which  we  have 
just  been  describing. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

History  of  Turkey  and  the  MohammedaD 

Power. 

The  vast  empire  of  Kublai  Khan,  Emperor  of  China,  ended 
with  his  life,  in  1296.  Among  the  many  chiefs  who  rose  to 
power  upon  its  ruins  was  Orthogrul,  a  Turkish  leader.  His 
son  Othman  completed  the  work  begun  by  his  father,  and/ 
having  conquered  a  portion  of  Nicomedia,  established  his 
capital  at  Prusa,  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  empire  of  the 
Ottoman  Turks,  who  take  their  name  from  him.  His  son 
Orchan,  taking  advantage  of  the  struggle  between  the  elder 
and  younger  Andronicus,  conquered  Bithynia  and  advanced 
his  dominions  to  the  Hellespont. 

When  the  Emperor  Cantacuzene  embarked  in  his  struggle 
for  the  throne,  he  asked  the  assistance  of  the  Turks,  and  even 
gave  his  daughter  in  marriage  to  Orchan.  Solyman,  the  son 
of  Orchan,  was  sent  over  to  Europe  at  the  head  of  10,000 
horse  to  aid  Cantacuzene  in  his  last  quarrel  with  John 
Palaeologus,  and  the  Turks  were  thus  given  a  foothold  in 
Europe  which  they  never  relinquished.  The  Chersonesus 
was  quietly  but  rapidly  filled  with  a  Turkish  colony,  and  the 
fortresses  of  Thrace  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  who 
refused  to  surrender  them  to  the  Byzantine  court,  A.  d.  I353- 

Amurath  I.,  the  son  of  Orchan  and  brother  of  Solyman, 
came  to  the  throne  in  1360.  He  conquered  all  of  Thrace  and 
made  Adrianople  the  capital  of  his  kingdom.  His  dominions 
extended  to  within  a  short  distance  of  Constantinople.     He 

475 


476        Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

might  have  captured  the  capital  of  the  Greek  empire,  but  he 
deemed  it  best  to  delay  this  conquest  for  a  while.  He  turned 
his  arms  against  the  Bulgarians,  the  Servians,  Bosnians,  and 
Albanians,  the  Slavonian  nations  inhabiting  the  region  between 
the  Danube  and  the  Adriatic,  and  subdued  them.  From  the 
multitude  of  his  Christian  captives  Amurath  selected  the 
strongest  and  most  beautiful  youths,  and  had  them  trained  for 
his  service. 

A  Race  of  Warriors. 

They  became  known  as  janizaries,  and  being  reared  from 
early  childhood  in  the  Mohammedan  religion  and  treated  with 
great  favor  by  the  Sultan,  they  became  his  most  devoted  sub- 
jects. They  also  constituted  the  flower  of  the  Turkish  army, 
and  were  regarded  as  the  most  formidable  troops  in  the  world. 
Amurath  was  mortally  wounded  in  battle  in  1389.  He  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Bajazet  I.,  called  "  Ilderim,"  or  "  Light- 
ning." He  secured  uninterrupted  communication  between  his 
dominions  in  Europe  and  Asia  by  stationing  a  fleet  of  galleys 
at  Gallipoli.  With  these  he  was  able  to  command  the  Hel- 
lespont and  intercept  the  expeditions  sent  from  western 
Europe  to  the  relief  of  Constantinople.  The  predecessors  of 
Bajazet  had  been  content  with  the  title  of  emir,  but  he 
assumed  that  of  sultan.  He  filled  Europe  with  terror,  and 
made  a  strenuous  effort  to  conquer  Hungary. 

All  western  Europe  sent  assistance  to  Hungary,  whose 
cause  was  that  of  Christendom,  but  Bajazet  inflicted  a  severe 
defeat  at  Nicopolis,  in  1396,  upon  a  confederated  army  of 
100,000  Christians  led  by  Siegmond,  King  of  Hungary. 
Bajazet  invariably  treated  the  Greek  emperors  as  his  vassals. 
He  enclosed  their  empire,  which  consisted  of  but  little  more 
than  Constantinople  and  its  suburbs,  on  all  sides  with  his 
extensive  dominions,  and  the  capture  of  the  city  was  simply  a 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power,        477 

question  of  time.  He  took  advantage  of  the  death  of  John 
Palaeologus  and  the  accession  of  Manuel  to  claim  the  city  as 
his  own,  and  his  demand  being  refused,  besieged  Constanti- 
nople, The  city  would  speedily  have  fallen  into  his  hands 
had  he  not  been  suddenly  summoned  to  Asia  to  meet  the 
advance  of  a  new  and  formidable  enemy,  and  Constantinople 
was  spared  for  a  while  longer. 

The  Celebrated  Tamerlane. 

This  new  enemy  was  a  Turkish  chieftain  named  Timour, 
or  Tamerlane.  His  ancestors  had  done  service  to  the  Mogul 
Khans,  and  at  an  early  age  he  had  risen  to  a  high  rank  in  the 
service  of  their  successors.  At  the  age  of  thirty-four  (a.  d. 
1370)  he  became  Emir  of  Zagatai  and  the  East,  but  this  did 
not  content  him.  He  coveted  the  sovereignty  of  the  world, 
and  by  the  force  of  his  genius  became  in  the  next  thirty  years 
the  ruler  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Mogul  empire.  Between 
1370  and  1400  he  conquered  and  annexed  to  his  dominions 
Persia,  Georgia,  Tartary  and  India.  At  the  close  of  the  cen- 
tury, although  sixty-three  years  old,  he  descended  from  the 
Georgian  hills  and  marched  to  conquer  Syria  and  Egypt.  It 
was  the  news  of  his  approach  that  summoned  Sultan  Bajazet 
from  the  siege  of  Constantinople  to  take  the  field  against  the 
most  formidable  adversary  the  Ottoman  Turks  had  yet  en- 
countered. 

The  effort  of  Bajazet  I.  to  check  the  victorious  march  of 
Timour  proved  in  vain.  The  latter  took  Aleppo  and  Damas- 
cus in  Syria  and  reduced  them  to  ashes.  He  turned  aside 
from  the  invasion  of  Palestine  and  overran  the  provinces  of 
Armenia  and  Anatolia.  Bajazet  endeavored  to  compel  him  to 
raise  the  siege  of  Angora  in  the  latter  country,  but  was 
defeated  in  a  great  battle  near  that  city,  and  made  a  prisoner, 
July  28,  1402. 


478         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

Tiniour  was  now  master  of  all  the  vast  region  from  the 
Irtish  and  the  Volga  to  the  Persian  Gulf,  and  from  the  Ganges 
to  Damascus  and  the  Archipelago.  Only  the  lack  of  vessels 
prevented  him  from  carrying  his  conquests  beyond  the  Helles- 
pont. He  ruled  this  immense  empire  with  firmness  and 
ability,  and  "  might  boast  that,  at  his  accession  to  the  throne, 
Asia  was  the  prey  of  anarchy  and  rapine,  whilst  under  his 
prosperous  monarchy  a  child,  fearless  and  unhurt,  might  carry 
a  purse  of  gold  from  the  east  to  the  west."  Such  was  his  con- 
fidence of  merit  that  from  this  reformation  he  derived  an 
excuse  for  his  victories  and  a  title  to  universal  dominion. 

Ghastly  Trophies. 

But  the  remedy  was  far  more  pernicious  than  the  disease  ; 
and  whole  nations  were  crushed  under  the  footsteps  of  the 
reformer.  The  ground  which  had  been  occupied  by  flourish- 
ing cities  was  often  marked  by  his  abominable  trophies,  by 
columns  or  pyramids  of  human  heads.  Timour  died  in  1405 
while  preparing  for  the  conquest  of  China,  and  his  empire  was 
soon  broken  up  among  his  descendants. 

The  capture  of  Sultan  Bajazet  was  followed  in  the  Turkish 
dominions  by  a  fierce  civil  war  among  his  five  sons,  which 
lasted  from  1403  to  1413.  At  the  end  of  this  time  order  was 
restored  by  Mohammed  I.,  who  was  recognized  as  universal 
sultan.  The  eight  years  of  his  reign  were  peaceful,  and  were 
spent  in  consolidating  his  power  in  his  dominions  and  in 
re-establishing  the  reign  of  law  which  had  been  overthrown 
by  the  civil  war.  His  son,  Amurath  H.,  suceeded  him  in 
142 1.  The  next  year  Amurath  renewed  the  attack  upon  Con- 
stantinople, but  after  a  siege  of  two  months  abandoned  the 
attempt.  He  was  a  man  of  singular  moderation  and  justice 
for  one  of  his  race,  and  preferred  the  repose  of  private  life  to  the 
cares  of  empire.     Resigning  the  sceptre  to  his  son,  he  retired 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        479 


to  Magnesia.   The  invasion  of  the  Hungarians  ^i(s\>r  Iifm  from 
his  retirement,  and  his  son  relinquished  the  crown  to  him. 

The  Christians  were 
finally  routed  in  the 
great  battle  of  Varna 
(1444),  and  Amurath 
again  resigned  the  crown 
to  his  son,  Mohammed 
II.  A  few  years  later  a 
formidable  rebellion  of 
the  janizaries  obliged  the 
sultan  once  more  to  re- 
sume the  government, 
as  his  son  was  too  young 
and  inexperienced  to 
control  the  army.  He 
remained  on  the  throne 
until  his  death,  in  145 1. 

Mohammed  II.  was 
twenty-one  years  old  at 
the  death  of  his  father. 
He  had  been  educated 
with  the  utmost  care, 
and  is  said  to  have 
spoken  in  addition  to  his 
native  tongue  the  Ara- 
bic,    Persian,     Hebrew, 

Greek  and  Latin  languages.  Yet  in  spite  of  this  training  he 
was  a  cruel,  brutal  and  lustful  tyrant.  From  the  opening  of 
his  reign  he  was  resolved  upon  the  capture  of  Constantinople. 
In  1452  he  began  to  fortify  the  Bosphorus  to  prevent  the 
passage  of  European  fleets  to  the  assistance  of  the  Greek 
capital,  and  in  the  spring  of  1453  advanced  to  Constantinople, 


SELIM   I. 


480         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

invested  the  city  and  captured  it  after  a  siege  of  fifty-three 

days. 

Mohammed's  Victories. 

The  Greek  emperor  defended  his  capital  gallantly,  but  the 
Turkish  force  was  overwhelming.  Constantinople  was  made 
the  capital  of  the  Turkish  empire,  but  the  Greeks  were  treated 
with  fairness  by  the  conqueror,  and  were  encouraged  to 
remain  in  the  city.  Mohammed  now  sought  to  follow  up  his 
victory  by  the  conquest  of  Hungary.  He  advanced  to  Bel- 
grade and  laid  siege  to  that  important  fortress,  but  was 
defeated  and  driven  back  by  the  Regent  John  Huniades  in 
1456.  These  efforts  were  repeated  during  the  remainder  of 
Mohammed's  reign,  but  without  success.  The  sultan  now 
turned  his  arms  against  the  remaining  Greek  states.  The 
Morea  was  conquered  and  annexed  in  1460,  and  the  next 
year  Trebizond  surrendered  to  him. 

In  148 1  a  Turkish  force  was  dispatched  across  the  Adriatic, 
and  Otranto  on  the  Italian  coast  was  stormed  and  sacked. 
Having  secured  this  important  footing  in  Italy,  Mohammed 
prepared  to  follow  it  up  by  the  conquest  of  the  entire  peninsula, 
but  amid  the  general  alarm  which  his  movements  occasioned 
throughout  Europe,  he  died.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Bajazet  II.  He  was  not  a  conqueror  like  his  father,  and  under 
him  the  Mohammedan  dominion  fell  off  instead  of  advancing. 

The  reign  of  Bajazet  II.  witnessed  a  decline  of  the  Turkish 
power.  In  1501  their  empire  was  weakened  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  modern  kingdom  of  Persia  under  Shah  Ismail,  the 
founder  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Sophis.  The  cause  of  this  divi- 
sion was  the  adoption  by  the  people  of  Persia  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  Shia  sect  of  Mohammedans.  In  15 12  Bajazet's  reign 
was  cut  short  by  his  enforced  abdication  in  favor  of  his  son, 
Selim  I.,  one  of  the  greatest  as  well  as  one  of  the  cruellest  of 
the  sultans. 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        481 

He  made  frequent  wars  upon  the  new  kingdom  of  Persia, 
and  made  himself  master  of  Kurdistan  and  Mesopotamia.  He 
next  conquered  Syria  and  Egypt  and  annexed  them  to  the 
Ottoman  empire.  He  compelled  the  last  of  the  Abbasside 
Khalifs  to  surrender  to  them  the  sacred  title,  which  the  Otto- 
man sultans  have  since  borne.  He  died  in  1520,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Solyman  I.,  who  proved  himself  a  much 
abler  sovereign  than  his  father.  He  was  the  greatest  of  the 
sultans. 

Important  Captures. 

In  the  first  year  of  his  reign  Solyman,  who  was  determined 
to  add  Hungary  and  Western  Europe  to  his  empire,  invaded 
the  former  country,  and  captured  Belgrade  and  a  number  of 
important  fortresses.  He  succeeded  in  conquering  and  annex- 
ingto  his  dominions,  the  southern  part  of  the  kingdom  and  the 
Temesvar  and  Banat.  In  1521  he  captured  the  Island  of 
Rhodes  from  the  Knights  of  St.  John,  who  had  held  it  since 
the  Crusades.  The  knights  retired  from  Rhodes  to  the  island 
of  Malta,  which  was  bestowed  upon  them  by  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.  They  fortified  its  principal  port,  and  in  1565  suc- 
cessfully resisted  a  determined  effort  of  Solyman  to  capture 
their  stronghold. 

In  1535  Solyman's  admiral,  Khaireddin,  called  Barbarossa, 

captured  Tunis  for  him,  but  it  was  retaken  by  the  Emperor 

Charles  V.,   who   inflicted   a   severe   punishment   upon   the 

Turks  in  Africa,  and  restored  Tunis  to  its  rightful  sovereign. 

In  spite  of  this  defeat,  however,  the  fleet  of  Barbarossa  swept 

the  Mediterranean,  and  ravaged  the  coasts  of  Spain,  Italy 

and  France  at  pleasure.     Thousands  of  captives  were  torn 

from  their  homes  and  sent  to  slavery  in  Africa.     In  spite  of 

these  outrages,  Francis  I.,  of  France,  in  order  to  defeat  the 

schemes  of  the  Emperor  Charles,  made  an  alliance  with  the 

Turks. 
31 


482        Turkey  and  the  Mokammedatt  Power. 

During  this  period  Solyman  conquered  the  islands  of  the 
Greek  Archipelago,  and  sent  a  squadron  into  the  Red  Sea  to 
oppose  the  Portuguese  in  India.  The  Venetians  lost  heavily 
by  these  conquests  in  the  Archipelago,  where  they  had  exten- 
sive possessions.  In  1542-3  the  Turkish  fleet  in  alliance  with 
the  French  ravaged  the  southern  coast  of  Italy.  Reggio  was 
burned,  numerous  captives  were  taken,  and  Rome  was  threat- 
ened. The  Turkish  fleet  then  sailed  for  Marseilles,  where 
Barbarossa  found  a  ready  market  for  the  captives  he  had  taken 
on  the  Calabrian  coast.  Toulon  was  assigned  to  the  Turks 
for  their  winter  quarters.  An  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made 
upon  Nice  by  the  combined  French  and  Turkish  fleets  during 
the  same  year. 

A  k\v  years  later  the  Turks  quarreled  with  their  Christian 
allies,  and  seized  a  number  of  French  nobles,  whom  they  held 
for  ransom.  During  the  whole  of  the  century  the  Turkish 
corsairs  kept  the  coasts  of  Europe  in  danger,  and  during  the 
life  of  Solyman  the  European  states  were  never  free  from 
the  dread  of  a  general  invasion  of  the  infidels.  In  1566  Soly- 
man died. 

A  Profligate  Prince 

Selim  II.  succeeded  his  father.  He  began  his  reign  by 
making  a  truce  for  twelve  years  with  the  Emperor  Maximi- 
lian II.  He  was  a  weak  and  profligate  prince,  and  secured 
the  allegiance  of  the  janizaries  by  distributing  large  sums  of 
money  among  them.  He  then  made  war  without  success 
.'igainst  Persia.  In  1570  he  sent  a  fleet  and  an  army  of 
50,000  men  to  conquer  Cyprus,  which  for  nearly  a  century 
had  been  a  dependency  of  the  Venetian  republic.  The  next 
year  saw  him  in  possession  of  the  entire  island.  Pope  Pius  V. 
now  organized  a  holy  league,  consisting  of  himself,  the  King 
of  Spain,  and  the  republic  of  Venice,  for  the  expulsion  of  the 
Turks  from  the  Mediterranean.     A  fleet  of  300  vessels,  com- 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        483 

manded  by  Don  John,  of  Austria,  half-brother  of  Philip  of 
Spain,  was  assembled,  and  dispatched  against  the  Moham- 
medans. 

Great  Naval  Successes. 

The  Turkish  fleet,  superior  in  strength  to  that  of  the  Chris- 
tians, was  discovered  in  the  harbor  of  Lepanto,  the  ancient 
Naupactus.  Don  John  at  once  attacked  it,  and  gained  over  it 
one  of  the  most  memorable  naval  victories  on  record.  The 
Turks  lost  224  ships  and  30,000  men,  and  their  supremacy  in 
the  Mediterranean  was  utterly  destroyed.  They  never  recov- 
ered from  this  blow,  and  from  this  battle  ceased  to  be  a  terror 
to  Europe.  Their  empire  steadily  declined  from  this  time. 
If  the  Christians  had  followed  up  their  victory  with  vigor, 
they  might  have  wrested  Greece  from  the  Porte.  They  were 
divided  by  quarrels,  however,  and  the  next  year  the  Turks 
were  able  to  put  another  fleet  afloat.  The  Venetians  now 
made  a  separate  peace  with  the  Sultan,  and  surrendered  all 
their  claims  to  Cyprus.     In  1572  Selim  died. 

The  immediate  successors  of  Selim  were  sunk  in  pleasure, 
and  made  no  efforts  to  extend  their  dominions.  In  1594 
Moldavia,  Wallachia,  and  Transylvania  revolted  from  Amu- 
rath  III.,  and  made  an  alliance  with  the  emperor.  Amurath 
in  great  alarm  sent  to  Damascus  for  the  holy  standard,  which 
he  supposed  would  bring  him  victory.  He  died  in  1595,  and 
was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Mohammed  III.,  who  secured  his 
succession  by  murdering  his  nineteen  brothers.  During  this 
year  the  Austrian  army  under  Count  Mansfeld  defeated  the 
Turks  in  a  series  of  battles.  In  1596  Mohammed  took  the 
field  in  person,  and  in  a  three  days'  battle  at  Keresztes  inflicted 
a  terrible  defeat  upon  the  Christians,  who  lost  50,000  men  and 
100  pieces  of  cannon.  The  war  lasted  until  January,  1607, 
but  the  Turks  neglected  to  reap  the  advantages  of  their  great 
victory,  and  gained  nothing  of  permanent  value  by  the  struggle. 


484 


Turkey  and  the  Mokam^nedan  Power.        485 

The  peace  of  Sitvatorok  in  1607,  which  closed  the  war 
between  the  Turks  and  the  empire,  showed  a  great  abatement 
in  the  pretensions  of  the  Turks,  whose  power  now  began  to 
decHne.  In  1618  Mohammed  III.  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Othman  II.,  who  attempted  the  conquest  of  Poland.  His 
disastrous  failure  so  enraged  the  janizaries  that  they  murdered 
him  at  the  close  of  the  war,  a.d.  1622.  He  was  only  eighteen 
years  old  at  the  time  of  his  death.  His  uncle,  Mustapha, 
an  imbecile,  was  taken  from  a  dungeon  and  seated  on  the 
throne,  but  was  removed  within  a  year  to  make  way  for 
Amurath  IV.,  the  younger  brother  of  Othman. 

The  Turks  Defeated  in  Hungary. 

In  1645  the  Sultan  attempted  the  conquest  of  Crete,  which 
had  been  held  up  to  this  time  by  the  Venetians ;  the  war  for 
the  possession  of  this  island  terminated  in  1669  in  its  conquest 
by  the  Turks,  who  held  undisputed  possession  of  it  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years. 

In  1649  Mohammed  IV.  came  to  the  throne.  In  1663  a 
new  war  was  begun  with  Austria.  It  was  closed  by  the  treaty 
of  Vasvar,  in  August,  1664.  The  Turks  were  allowed  to 
retain  all  their  conquests  in  Hungary,  and  were  paid  the  sum 
of  200,000  florins  by  the  emperor.  In  1683,  the  truce  of 
Vasvar  having  nearly  expired,  Mohammed  sent  an  army  under 
Kara  Mustapha,  the  Grand  Vizier,  to  the  assistance  of  the 
revolted  Hungarians.  Vienna  was  besieged,  but  was  relieved 
by  the  armies  of  King  John  Sobieski  and  the  Duke  of  Lor- 
raine. The  Turks  were  defeated  and  driven  out  of  Austria 
and  Hungary. 

The  Duke  of  Lorraine  continued  the  war  with  great  energy, 
and  in  three  years  regained  all  Hungary,  Transylvania,  and 
Slavonia  for  the  empire.  The  long  line  of  defeats  which 
befell  the  Turkish  arms  produced  a  revolt  in  Constantinople 


486         Turkey  mid  the  Mohammedan  Power, 

in  1687.  The  Sultan  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  brother,  Solyman  II.  This  prince  was  suc- 
ceeded in  1696  by  Mustapha  II.  The  war  with  Austria  and 
Poland  went  on  with  varying  success  until  1699.  In  1684  the 
Venetians  had  joined  the  emperor  against  the  Turks,  and  had 
conquered  the  whole  of  Peloponnesus. 

Destruction  of  the  Parthenon. 

In  this  war  the  beautiful  temple  of  the  Parthenon,  at  Athens, 
which  had  been  converted  by  the  Christian  emperors  into  a 
church,  and  by  the  Turks  into  a  powder-magazine,  was  blown 
to  atoms  by  the  explosion  of  the  powder  stored  in  it.  In 
1699  the  war  was  concluded  by  the  peace  of  Carlowitz.  By 
this  treaty  Turkey  ceded  to  Austria  nearly  all  the  territory 
she  had  held  in  Hungary,  Transylvania,  Sclavonia,  and  part 
of  Croatia.  Venice  received  the  Peloponnesus,  several  for- 
tresses in  Dalmatia,  and  the  islands  of  St.  Maura  and  .^gina. 
Poland  obtained  the  Ukraine,  Podolia,  and  Kameniek. 

After  the  treaty  of  Carlowitz  the  Sultan  hesitated  for  three 
years  before  coming  to  an  agreement  with  Russia,  as  he  was 
by  no  means  anxious  to  admit  that  power  to  a  footing  on  the 
Black  Sea.  The  capture  of  Azov  by  the  Russians  made  it 
impossible  for  him  to  prevent  their  presence  on  the  Black  Sea, 
and  in  July,  1702,  he  reluctantly  submitted  to  the  inevitable, 
and  ceded  Azov  and  a  strip  of  eighty  miles  of  coast  to  Russia 
Peter  the  Great  set  to  work  at  once  to  strengthen  Azov,  and 
made  it  one  of  the  strongest  fortresses  in  Europe. 

The  power  of  Turkey  steadily  declined  during  this  century. 
The  cessation  of  the  tribute  of  Christian  children,  by  which 
the  janizaries  had  been  recruited,  deprived  the  Sultan  of  his 
best  and  most  devoted  servants.  The  Turkish  armies  no 
longer  enjoyed  the  guidance  of  great  leaders  and  competent 
officers.    The  subject  nations  began  to  grow  stronger  as  Tur- 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        487 

key  grew  weaker,  and  it  was  plain  to  all  thoughtful  observers 
that  they  would  not  remain  in  subjection  much  longer. 

The  desire  of  Russia  to  obtain  the  northern  shore  of  the 
Black  Sea,  and  ultimately  to  wrest  their  European  territory 
from  the  Turks,  made  frequent  wars  a  necessity  for  Turkey, 
which  from  this  time  was  compelled  to  maintain  her  existence 
by  the  sword.  When  Charles  XII.  was  in  Turkey,  Peter  the 
Great  suddenly  invaded  the  Turkish  territory,  as  we  have  re- 
lated in  the  Russian  history,  and  came  near  being  ruined. 
He  was  glad  to  make  a  treaty  by  which  he  surrendered 
Azov,  in  order  to  be  able  to  withdraw  into  his  own  dominions 
without  further  loss,  a.  d.  171 1. 

Immediately  after  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  the  Sultan,  Achmet 
III.,  declared  war  in  171 5  against  the  Venetians,  and  overran 
the  Morea.  The  Emperor,  Charles  VI.,  in  order  to  enforce 
the  terms  of  the  peace  of  Carlowitz,  declared  war  against  the 
Turks.  His  commander.  Prince  Eugene,  routed  the  Turkish 
army  at  Peterwardin,  and  laid  siege  to  Belgrade.  A  Turkish 
army  approaching  to  the  relief  of  that  fortress  was  defeated 
by  Eugene,  and  Belgrade  was  forced  to  surrender,  A.  d.  17 17. 
The  war  was  closed  by  the  peace  of  Passarowitz,  in  171 8. 
The  Turks  surrendered  Belgrade  and  the  Bannat  of  Temisvar 
to  the  emperor,  but  retained  the  Morea. 

A  new  war  broke  out  between  Russia  and  Turkey  in  1736, 
and  continued  until  1739,  Austria  taking  part  in  it  as  the  ally 
of  Russia  after  1737.  At  the  close  of  the  war  Belgrade, 
Sebatch  and  Austrian  Scrvia  were  ceded  to  Turkey,  but 
Russia,  who  had  regained  Azov,  held  on  to  that  place.  By 
this  treaty — known  as  the  peace  of  Belgrade — Russia  agreed 
not  to  keep  any  fleet  in  the  Black  Sea.  At  the  outset  of  the 
war  Mahmoud  I.,  who  succeeded  to  the  Turkish  throne  in 
1730,  died,  and  Mustapha  III.  became  sultan  in  a.  d.  1737. 

In   1769,  during  the  reign  of  Mustapha  III.  of  Turkey  and 


488 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        489 

Catharine  II.  of  Russia,  the  affairs  of  Poland  involved  Turkey 
in  a  war  with  Russia.  The  war  began  in  the  spring  of  1769, 
and  the  Russian  forces  were  defeated  and  driven  beyond  the 
Dneister.  In  1770  a  Russian  fleet  sailed  from  the  Baltic  to 
the  Mediterranean,  and  entered  the  Archipelago.  The  Turk- 
ish fleet  was  defeated  at  Epidaurus,  and  again  at  Scio,  and 
was  burned  in  the  harbor  of  Smyrna.  The  Greeks  of  the 
Morea  rose  at  the  call  of  Russia,  which  power  intended 
establishing  an  independent  Greek  kingdom  as  an  offset  to 
Turkey,  but  as  soon  as  the  Rusian  forces  were  withdrawn,  a 
Turkish  army  of  30,000  men  entered  the  Morea,  defeated  the 
Greeks  in  the  battle  of  Modon,  and  punished  their  defection 
with  fearful  cruelties. 

Widespread  Insurrection. 

In  the  meantime  the  Turks  had  recovered  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia,  but  Prince  Romanzoff  took  command  of  the  Rus- 
sian forces  in  1770,  defeated  the  Turkish  army  in  a  great 
battle  near  the  mouth  of  the  Pruth,  and  reconquered  Wal- 
lachia and  Moldavia.  To  add  to  the  troubles  of  Turkey, 
Egypt  and  Syria  rose  in  insurrection  against  her.  The  war 
went  on  with  varying  success,  but  to  the  general  disadvantage 
of  Turkey,  until  July,  1774,  when  the  treaty  of  Kutchuk- 
Kainardji  brought  it  to  a  close. 

The  terms  of  this  treaty  have  been  stated  in  the  Russian 
history  of  this  period.  Mustapha  III.  died  in  1774,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  younger  brother,  Abdul  Ahmed.  He 
reigned  until  1 789,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  his  nephew, 
Selim  III.,  the  son  of  Mustapha,  whose  reign  lasted  through 
the  century. 

In  1787  a  new  war  broke  out  between  Turkey  and  Russia. 
Its  events  are  related  in  our  account  of  Russia,  to  which  the 
reader  is  referred.     Turkey  was  defeated  almost  invariably  in 


490         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

this  war;  her  fleets  were  destroyed  and  her  fortresses  taken. 
The  war  was  closed  by  the  peace  ol  Jassy,  in  January,  1792. 
Russia  had  already  become  mistress  of  the  Crimea,  and  by 
this  treaty  the  Dneistcr  was  made  the  boundary  between  the 
two  empires. 

The  territory  thus  won  by  Russia  was  lost  to  Turkey  for- 
ever. The  remainder  of  the  century  was  productive  of  no 
event  of  importance  in  Turkish  history,  apart  from  the 
invasion  of  Egypt  and  Syria  by  the  French  under  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  which  we  have  already  related. 

Resistance  to  Turkish  Power. 

The  Turkish  power  was  at  a  very  low  ebb  at  the  opening 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  many  of  the  subject  nations, 
both  Christian  and  Mohammedan,  sought  to  throw  off  the 
yoke  of  the  Sultan  and  establish  their  independence.  In  1806 
Servia  revolted  under  the  leadership  of  Czerni  George.  It 
was  conquered  in  1813,  but  again  revolted  in  1815,  under 
Milosh  Obrenowitz. 

Montenegro  also  rebelled,  and  until  the  Crimean  war  these 
provinces  enjoyed  a  state  of  quasi  independence.  Egypt  was 
also  strongly  disaffected.  In  1809  a  war  broke  out  with 
Russia,  which  resulted  in  a  further  loss  of  Turkish  territory. 
It  was  closed  by  the  treaty  of  Bucharest,  by  which  the  Sultan 
ceded  to  Russia  Bessarabia,  Ismail  and  Kilia,  one-third  of 
Moldavia,  and  the  fortresses  of  Chotzim  and  Bender. 

In  1807  Selim  III.  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mahmoud 
II.,  under  whom  the  Turkish  pqwer  continued  to  decline.  The 
population  of  the  Turkish  empire  in  Europe  was  about 
14,000,000,  of  whom  scarcely  2,000,000  were  Turks.  The 
remainder  were  Christians,  consisting  principally  of  the  four 
distinct  races  inhabiting  European  Turkey,  viz.:  the  Sclavon- 
ians,  occupying  Bulgaria,   Servia,  Bosnia,  Herzegovina  and 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        491 

Montenegro ;  the  Roumanians,  occupying  Moldavia  knd 
Wallachia  ;  the  Albanians,  dwelling  in  ancient  Epirus,  and 
the  Greeks. 

The  Greeks  had  never  willingly  accepted  the  rule  of 
Turkey,  and  some  portions  of  them  had  never  submitted  to 
the  Porte,  but  had  maintained  a  wild,  brigandish  existence  in 
their  mountains.  Though  the  Greeks  were  attached  to 
Russia  by  the  strong  ties  of  a  common  religion,  that  power 
refused  to  do  anything  for  their  freedom,  and  Alexander  1. 
met  their  appeal  for  aid  against  their  Turkish  oppressors  with 
the  cold  command :  "  Let  the  Greek  rebels  obey  their  lawful 
sovereign. " 

Uprising  of  the  Greeks. 

In  spite  of  this  discouragement  the  Greeks  determined  to 
throw  off  the  Turkish  yoke,  and  in  March,  1821,  the  first  blow 
was  struck.  The  people  of  the  peninsula  and  the  islands  rose 
in  a  general  revolt.  When  the  news  of  the  revolution  was 
received  at  Constantinople  a  general  massacre  of  the  Greek 
inhabitants  of  the  capital  ensued.  The  war  went  on  through 
the  year  1821,  the  patriot  forces  winning  several  important 
successes,  among  which  was  the  capture  of  the  Turkish 
capital  of  the  Morea.  In  January,  1822,  a  national  congress 
met  at  Epidaurus,  'proclaimed  the  independence  of  Greece, 
and  adopted  a  provisional  constitution.  Alexander  Mavro- 
cardatos  was  chosen  president.  In  the  spring  of  the  same 
year  the  Turks  made  a  descent  upon  Scio  massacred  40,000 
of  the  inhabitants,  and  carried  away  thousands  to  the  slave 
markets  of  Smyrna  and  Constantinople. 

In  1823  the  admiration  and  sympathy  of  all  Europe  were 
aroused  by  the  heroic  death  of  Marco  Bozzaris,  who,  with  a 
small  band  of  Suliote  patriots,  attacked  the  Turkish  camp  and 
fell  in  the  arms  of  victory.  The  European  governments 
looked   coldly   upon   the   gallant   struggle,   but   the   people 


492        Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

remembered  the  glories  of  ancient  Greece,  and  supplies  of 
money,  arms  and  men  were  sent  to  the  patriots.  Foremost 
among  those  who  devoted  their  fortunes  and  talents  to  the 
freedom  of  Greece  was  Lord  Byron.  He  died  at  Missolonghi 
in  April,  1824,  before  he  could  accomplish  much  for  the  cause 
he  had  adopted. 

Unable  to  conquer  Greece,  the  sultan  summoned  Meheniet 
Ali,  the  Viceroy  of  Egypt,  who  enjoyed  a  state  of  actual  inde- 
pendence, to  complete  the  task.  This  vigorous  leader  spread 
terror  and  desolation  throughout  Hellas.  Missolonghi  was 
taken  after  a  heroic  defence,  and  Athens  was  captured  in 
1825.  The  Egyptian  forces  had  orders  to  make  a  desolation 
of  Greece,  and  to  carry  off  the  people  into  slavery. 

Destruction  of  the  Moharamedan  Fleet. 

Alexander  I.,  of  Russia,  fortunately  died  at  this  juncture 
and  the  Czar  Nicholas,  his  successor,  adopted  a  different 
policy.  Moved  either  by  his  sympathy  with  his  co-religion- 
ists or  by  his  anxiety  to  weaken  Turkey,  he  resolved  to  inter- 
vene in  behalf  of  the  Greeks,  and  was  joined  by  France  and 
England,  who  were  anxious  to  impose  a  check  upon  the 
Egyptian  viceroy.  These  powers  sent  a  strong  combined 
fleet  to  the  Mediterranean.  On  the  20th  of  October,  1827, 
this  fleet,  under  the  command  of  the  English  Admiral  Cod- 
rington,  accidentally  encountered  the  Turkish  and  Egyptian 
fleet  in  the  Bay  of  Navarino.  A  battle  ensued,  which 
'resulted  in  the  destruction  of  the  Mohammedan  fleet. 

This  success  revived  the  hopes  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  next 
year  Russia  declared  war  against  Turkey ;  and  the  sultan,  in 
order  to  save  his  Danubian  provinces,  was  obliged  to  sign 
the  treaty  of  Adrianople,  by  which  he  acknowledged  the  inde- 
pendence of  Greece. 

Mehemet  Ali  was  given  the  sovereignty  of  Crete  by  the 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.       493 

sultan  for  his  services  in  the  Greek  revolution.  Not  satisfied 
with  this  acquisition,  he  sent  his  son,  Ibrahim  Pasha,  an  able 
commander,  in  1 831,  to  conquer  Syria.  That  country  was 
overrun  by  the  Egyptian  forces,  who  also  advanced  towards 
Asia  Minor.  Their  progress  was  at  length  stayed  by  the 
intervention  of  Russia,  England  and  France,  whose  forces 
defeated  Ibrahim  at  Nisibis  on  the  Euphrates.  A  few  days 
after  this  battle  Sultan  Mahmoud  died.  France  was  anxious 
that  Mehemet  AH  should  succeed  him,  but  England  and 
Russia  drove  him  out  of  Acre  and  Syria,  and  secured  the 
Turkish  throne  for  Abdul  Medjid,  the  young  son  of  Mah- 
moud. 

The  Treaty  of  London. 

In  1840  the  treaty  of  London  was  signed.  Crete  and 
Syria  were  restored  to  the  Porte,  and  Mehemet  Ali  was  limited 
to  Egypt.  For  many  years  after  this  Sir  Stratford  Canning, 
afterward  Lord  Stratford  de  Redcliffe,  the  English  ambassador 
at  Constantinople,  controlled  the  counsels  of  the  Porte.  By 
the  treaty  of  London,  Egypt  became,  to  a  certain  extent,  an 
independent  state,  though  owning  a  nominal  allegiance  to  the 
sultan. 

In  185 1  began  the  troubles  which  resulted  in  the  Crimean 
war,  which  we  have  related  elsewhere.  The  treaty  of  Paris, 
in  1856,  which  brought  this  war  to  a  close,  admitted  Turkey 
to  the  European  system  of  states,  and  guaranteed  the  integrity 
of  her  dominions.  Servia  was  given  a  native  prince,  and  was 
placed  under  the  protection  of  the  great  powers,  though  she 
retained  a  nominal  allegiance  to  the  sultan.  Moldavia  and 
Wallachia,  a  few  yeqrs  later,  were  erected  into  a  similarly 
independent  state  under  the  name  of  Roumania. 

In  1 86 1  Abdul  Medjid  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  Abdul 
Aziz.  In  1868  a  formidable  insurrection  broke  out  in  the 
island  of  Crete  or  Candia.     It  aroused  great  sympathy  among 


494         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

the  European  people,  and  came  near  producing  a  war  between 
Greece  and  Turkey,  but  was  quelled  during  the  following 
year  by  the  Turks. 

Mehemet  Ali  was  succeeded  as  Viceroy  of  Egypt  by  his  son 
Ibrahim  Pasha,  under  whose  vigorous  rule  Egypt  made  great 
progress.  He  died  in  1 848,  and  Abbas  Pasha  became  viceroy, 
and  was,  in  his  turn,  succeeded  by  Ismail  Pasha^  the  reigning 
khedive. 

In  1867  the  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz  visited  Paris  and  London 
and  the  principal  cities  of  Europe.  This  was  the  first  time  a 
Turkish  sovereign  ever  made  a  peaceful  journey  beyond  the 
limits  of  his  own  empire. 

Russia  Gains  an  Advantage. 

The  result  of  the  war  between  France  and  Germany,  in 
1870-71,  affected  Turkey  in  a  most  important  respect.  The 
treaty  of  Paris,  which  closed  the  Crimean  war,  placed  a  re- 
striction upon  the  aggressive  power  of  Russia  by  neutralizing 
the  Black  Sea.  The  reverses  of  France  in  her  contest  with 
Germany  so  weakened  her  that  she  was  unable  to  sustain 
England  in  upholding  the  treaty  of  Paris.  Russia  promptly 
took  advantage  of  this  to  demand  of  the  Powers  a  modifica- 
tion of  those  articles  of  the  treaty  which  prevented  her  from 
fortifying  her  ports  or  maintaining  an  armed  fleet  in  the  Black 
Sea. 

England  warmly  opposed  the  demand,  but  France  was  in 
no  condition  to  do  so,  and  Germany  and  the  Austro-Hun- 
garian  monarchy  gave  their  moral  support  to  the  Russian 
demand,  and  avowed  their  intention  not  to  co-operate  with 
England  in  any  armed  resistance  to  it.  The  result  was  that  a 
conference  of  the  representatives  of  the  Powers  was  held  in 
London  and  on  the  13th  of  February,  1871,  a  treaty  was  signed 
by  them  abrogating  the  articles  of  the  treaty  of  Paris  as  to 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        495 

the  navigation  of  the  Black  Sea  and  the  right  of  Russia  to 
fortify  her  ports.  The  protection  afforded  to  Turkey  by  the 
great  Powers  was  thus  taken  from  her. 

In  1873  the  Sultan's  authority  over  Egypt  was  further 
weakened  by  the  concessions  which  made  the  Khedive  almost 
an  independent  sovereign,  and  which  we  have  related  in  the 
history  of  Egypt. 

Turkish  Misrule  and  Oppression. 

In  the  summer  of  1875  an  insurrection  broke  out  in  Herze- 
govina. The  misrule  and  oppression  of  the  Turkish  govern- 
ment had  come  to  be  insupportable,  and  the  inhabitants  rose 
in  rebellion  and  repulsed  the  attacks  of  the  Turkish  troops^ 
Servia,  Bosnia,  Montenegro,  and  Bulgaria  were  profoundly 
excited  by  these  events,  and  were  open  in  their  sympathy 
with  their  struggling  Christian  brethren  in  Herzegovina. 
Substantial  aid  was  also  rendered  by  the  people  of  those 
countries,  the  governments  of  which  for  a  time  remained 
neutral. 

In  October,  1875,  Turkey  failed  to  meet  the  interest  on  her 
national  debt,  the  principal  of  which  amounted  to  over  ^900,- 
000,000.  A  decree  was  issued  by  the  Porte  promising  speedy 
payment  of  half  the  interest  and  making  provision  for  the 
payment  of  the  other  half  The  promise  was  not  fulfilled, 
and  in  July,  1876,  the  Porte  was  compelled  to  declare  its 
insolvency  by  stating  that  all  payments  on  account  of  the 
national  debt  must  cease  until  the  close  of  the  war  with  its 
revolted  provinces.  As  nearly  every  dollar  of  this  debt  was 
due  to  citizens  of  western  Europe,  principally  English  sub- 
jects, the  failure  of  the  Turks  to  meet  their  obligations  greatly 
weakened  the  friendship  which,  up  to  this  time,  the  English 
people  had  felt  for  them. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  1876,  the  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz,  to  whose 


496         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 


mismanagement  many  of  the  troubles  of  the  country  were 
due,  was  forcibly  deposed,  and  placed  in  confinement  in  one  of 
the  palaces  at  Constantinople.  On  the  4th  of  June  he  was 
found  dead  in  his  chamber,  having  committed  suicide. 

Murad  (or  Amurath)  V., 
the  son  of  Abdul  Medjid, 
was  proclaimed  Sultan  in 
the  place  of  his  uncle.  His 
reign  was  a  brief  one.  He 
proved  so  hopelessly  imbe- 
cile that,  on  the  31st  of  Au- 
gust, 1876,  he  was  in  his 
turn  deposed,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  brother,  Ab- 
dul Hamid  n. 

In  the  meantime  the  war 
with  Herzegovina  had  been 
carried  on.  In  October, 
1875,  the  Sultan  declared 
that  the  taxes  which  had 
been  one  cause  of  the  re, 
volt,  should  be  lowered  from 
their  excessive  rate  to  ten 
per  cent.,  that  arrears  of 
taxes  should  be  abandoned,  and  that  the  Christians  should 
be  granted  a  representation  in  the  state  councils.  The  Chris- 
tians had  learned  from  long  experience  to  distrust  these 
promises,  and  the  war  went  on.  In  October,  1875,  some 
Christians  who  had  come  back  to  their  homes  from  Dalmatia 
were  massacred  by  the  Turks,  and  the  struggle  became  more 
bitter  in  consequence  of  this  act.  Servia  and  Montenegro 
secretly  gave  aid  to  the  rebels,  and  the  Prince  of  Servia 
declared  in  a  speech  to  the  national  assembly  that  it  was 


ABDUL  AZIZ. 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        497 

impossible  for  Servia  to  be  indifferent  to  the  fate  of  the  Herze- 
govines. 

It  was  feared  by  the  European  powers  that  the  troubles  in 
Turkey  might  be  the  means  of  embroiling  other  countries-  in 
the  war,  and  near  the  close  of  the  year  1875,  Germany, 
Austria,  and  Russia  made  a  combined  effort  to  secure  peace. 
Austria,  whose  territory  adjoined  the  Turkish  dominions,  was 
especially  fearful  that  the  revolt  would  extend  across  her 
border  and  involve  her  Sclavonic  possessions.  A  joint  note 
was  drawn  up  in  the  name  of  the  three  powers  by  Count 
Andrassy,  the  Austrian  prime  minister. 

Systeni  of  Reforms. 

This  note  proposed  to  the  Sultan  to  grant  certain  reforms  to 
his  Christian  subjects.  These  were  the  establishment  of  com- 
plete religious  liberty  ;  the  abolition  of  the  system  of  farming 
out  the  taxes;  the  application  of  the  revenue  arising  from 
indirect  taxation  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  to  the  general 
purposes  of  the  Ottoman  government,  and  the  employment  of 
the  results  of  the  direct  taxation  in  the  improvement  and 
government  of  those  provinces.  The  Porte  accepted  all  the 
reforms  but  the  disposition  of  the  taxes,  at  the  same  time 
promising  to  set  aside  a  certain  sum  from  the  national  treasury 
for  the  local  wants  of  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina. 

The  insurgents  were  not  willing  to  trust  the  pledges  of  the 
Porte,  however,  and  the  war  went  on.  On  the  30th  of  March, 
1876,  an  armistice  was  concluded,  and  an  effort  was  made  by 
an  agent  of  the  Austrian  Government  to  effect  a  settlement. 
The  terms  demanded  by  the  insurgents  were  so  extravagant, 
however,  that  Austria  refused  to  consider  them. 

The  Andrassy  note  having  failed,  a  note  was  drawn  up  at 
Berlin  on  the  nth  of  May,  1876,  by  the  prime  ministers  of 
Germany,  Austria  and  Russia,  and  forwarded  to  Constanti- 
32 


498         Turkey  and  tJie  Mohammedan  Power. 

nople.  It  stated  peremptorily  that  as  the  Sultan  had  given 
the  powers  a  pledge  to  execute  the  reforms  proposed  by  them, 
he  had  also  given  them  a  moral  right  to  insist  that  he  should 
fulfill  his  promise. 

The  note  then  demanded  an  armistice  of  two  months,  and 
closed  with  a  threat  that  if  the  Sultan  failed  to  comply  with 
the  demands  of  the  Powers,  they  might  find  it  necessary  to 
compel  him  to  do  so.  The  note  substantially  supported  the 
demands  of  the  Christians  of  Herzegovina  with  respect  to 
taxation  and  the  restoration  of  their  property,  etc.  France 
and  Italy  agreed  to  support  the  note,  but  England  declined 
to  do  so. 

Massacred  in  Cold  Blood. 

The  war  had  gone  on  in  the  meantime,  and  Bulgaria  had 
become  to  some  extent  involved  in  it.  Early  in  May  the 
Turkish  officials  in  Bulgaria  determined  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
troubles  in  that  province  by  the  wholesale  extermination  of 
the  Bulgarian  Christians.  A  systematic  plan  was  arranged 
for  this  purpose,  and  at  the  appointed  time  the  Christians 
were  attacked  in  their  villages  by  the  Turks,  Many  hundreds 
were  massacred  in  cold  blood,  including  people  of  all  ages 
and  both  sexes ;  women  were  outraged,  property  carried  off 
or  destroyed,  and  villages  burned. 

The  news  of  the  massacre  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  and  indig- 
nation throughout  Europe,  and  the  Turks  were  denounced  in 
unmeasured  terms.  In  England,  which  country  had  until  now 
given  its  moral  support  to  Turkey,  the  outburst  of  indigna- 
tion was  intense,  and  the  popular  feeling  was  so  outspoken 
that  the  government  was  compelled  to  pause  in  its  support  of 
the  Sultan  and  act  more  in  sympathy  with  the  other  European 
powers. 

An  immediate  result  of  the  massacres  was  the  active  partici- 
pation of  Servia  in  the  war.     In  July,  1876,  both  Servia  and 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        499 

Montenegro  declared  war  against  Turkey.  The  Servian 
army  attempted  to  invade  Bulgaria,  but  was  so  unsuccessful 
in  its  efforts  that  on  the  24th  of  August  Prince  Milan  accepted 
the  offer  of  England  to  mediate  between  him  and  the  Sultan. 
Montenegro  had  been  generally  successful  in  her  efforts, 
but,  in  view  of  the  action  of  Servia,  consented  to  treat  for 
peace.  On  the  ist  of  September  England  proposed  an  armis- 
tice of  a  month  between  the  belligerents. 

The  Sultan's  Demands. 

The  Sultan  refused  to  grant  this,  but  declared  himself  will- 
ing to  make  peace  on  condition  that  Prince  Milan  should 
come  to  Constantinople  and  do  homage  to  him,  that  Turkish 
garrisons  should  be  placed  in  four  of  the  Servian  fortresses, 
that  Servia  should  pay  an  indemnity,  and  that  the  Porte 
should  be  allowed  to  construct  and  work  a  railroad  through 
Servian  territory.  The  powers  refused  to  allow  these  terms 
to  be  discussed.  Great  Britain  now  proposed  as  a  basis  of 
negotiation  that  Bosnia  and  Bulgaria  should  be  given  local 
self-government  without  being  freed  from  their  dependence 
upon  the  Porte.  Prince  Milan  refused  to  accept  this  proposal, 
and  the  war  was  resumed.  The  Turkish  armies  now  pre- 
pared to  invade  the  territory  of  Servia,  but  were  checked  by 
the  interposition  of  Russia. 

Up  to  this  time  the  action  of  the  Russian  Government  hacl 
been  entirely  conservative,  being  confined  to  its  participation 
in  the  preparation  of  the  diplomatic  notes  addressed  to 
Turkey.  Now  large  numbers  of  Russian  officers  and  soldiers 
entered  the  Servian  Army  with  the  consent  and  approval  of 
the  Czar.  They  enabled  the  Servians  to  hold  out  against  the 
Turks  until  the  31st  of  October,  when  the  fortified  city  of 
Alexinatz  was  captured  by  the  latter.  This  success  placed 
Servia  practically  at  the  mercy  of  Turkey. 


600        Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

In  the  meantime  orders  had  been  sent  to  the  Russian 
Ambassador  at  London  to  inform  the  British  Government 
that  it  was  the  opinion  of  the  Czar  that  force  should  be  used  to 
stop  the  war  and  put  an  end  to  Turkish  misrule.  Lord  Derby 
stated  that  England  was  prepared  to  unite  with  Russia  in 
bringing  about  an  armistice  of  not  less  than  a  month,  but 
would  not  support  an  armed  intervention  in  Turkish  affairs. 
At  this  juncture  Turkey,  to  the  surprise  of  all  the  Powers, 
suddenly  offered  an  armistice  for  six  months,  and  announced 
a  scheme  of  reform  for  the  whole  empire.  England,  Austria 
and  France  favored  the  armistice,  but  Russia  declared  that 
she  could  not  ask  Servia  to  accept  so  long  a  truce,  since  the 
principality  could  not  keep  its  army  on  a  war  footing  for  so 
long  a  time ;  and  this  view  of  the  case  was  supported  by  Italy. 

Russia  demanded  a  truce  of  four  or  six  weeks.  The  Turk- 
ish forces  were  pressing  the  siege  of  Alexinatz  with  energy, 
and  it  was  apparent  that  that  place  could  not  hold  out  much 
longer.  General  Ignatieff,  the  Russian  ambassador  at  Con- 
stantinople, was  therefore  ordered  to  demand  of  the  Porte  an 
acceptance  within  forty-eight  hours  of  the  armistice  proposed 
by  Russia.  The  demand  was  made  o^  the  31st  of  October, 
and  on  the  same  day  Alexinatz  was  captured  by  the  Turks. 
The  Russian  demand  was  granted  by  the  Porte,  and  the 
armistice  was  proclaimed. 

Although  determined  to  support  Servia  against  Turkey, 
Russia  was  anxious  to  maintain  friendly  relations  with  the 
other  European  powers.  On  the  2nd  of  November  Lord 
Adolphus  Loftus,  the  English  ambassador,  had  an  interview 
with  the  Czar  at  Livadia.  The  Czar  "  pledged  his  sacred 
word  and  honor  "  that  he  had  no  intention  of  acquiring  Con- 
stantinople, and  that  if  necessity  compelled  him  to  occupy  a 
portion  of  Bulgaria  it  would  only  be  provisionally,  and  until 
the  safety  of  the  Christian  population  was  assured.     These 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        501 

assurances  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  English  Government, 
which  now  assumed  the  initiative  in  proposing  a  general  con- 
ference of  the  representatives  of  the  great  Powers  of  Europe 
to  meet  at  Constantinople. 

On  the  4th  of  November  the  Marquis  of  Salisbury  was 
appointed  the  English  representative.  The  proposal  was 
accepted,  but  all  the  powers  did  not  send  special  representa- 
tives. Germany,  Russia  and  Italy  considered  their  ambassa- 
dors at  Constantinople  sufficient;  but  Austria  and  France 
followed  the  example  of  England,  and  sent  special  representa- 
tives to  assist  their  resident  ambassadors. 

Significant  Threats. 

Before  the  conference  assembled  the  Earl  of  Beaconsfield 
(Disraeli),  the  English  premier,  delivered  a  speech  sharply 
criticising  the  Russian  attitude,  and  closed  it  with  significant 
words :  "  While  the  policy  of  England  is  peace,  no  countrj'  is 
so  well  prepared  for  war."  The  next  day,  November  9th,  the 
Czar,  in  an  address  to  the  nobles  and  communal  council  of 
Moscow,  said :  "  I  hope  this  conference  will  bring  peace ; 
should  this,  however,  not  be  achieved,  and  should  I  see  that 
we  cannot  attain  such  guarantees  as  are  necessary  for  carrying 
out  what  we  have  a  right  to  demand  of  the  Porte,  I  am  firmly 
determined  to  act  independently."  These  words  were  gen- 
erally regarded  as  a  reply  to  Lord  Beaconsfield's  threat,  and 
caused  considerable  excitement  in  Europe,  as  they  implied  a 
possibility  of  war  between  Russia  and  England. 

Lord  Salisbury  reached  Constantinople  on  the  5th  of 
December.  On  his  journey  from  London  he  had  visited 
Paris,  Berlin,  Vienna  and  Rome,  and  had  ascertained  the 
views  of  those  governments  with  respect  to  the  Eastern  ques- 
tion. Immediately  upon  reaching  Constantinople  he  entered 
into  communication  with   the   Porte  and  with  the  foreign 


502        Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

ambassadors  and  representatives.  He  was  encouraged  by  this 
intercourse  to  believe  that  the  conference  would  result  in 
a  satisfactory  settlement  of  the  troubles.  Turkey  seemed 
willing  to  accept  a  fair  proposition  of  settlement,  and  the  Rus- 
sian ambassador  was  especially  cordial  in  co-operating  with 
Lord  Salisbury. 

Results  of  the  Conference. 

"  On  December  nth  the  representatives  of  the  six  great 
powers  of  Europe  met  in  a  salon  of  the  palace  of  the  Russian 
embassy  for  a  preliminary  consultation,  and  on  the  following 
day  the  preliminary  conference  was  formally  opened  with  the 
exclusion  of  the  Turkish  representatives.  The  preliminary 
conference  came  to  an  end  on  December  21st,  and  General 
Ignatieff,  in  informing  the  Porte  of  the  fact,  invited  it  to  send 
its  representatives  to  the  definite  conference,  which  was  to 
begin  its  sessions  on  December  23d.  The  result  of  the  pre- 
liminary conference  had  been  that  the  powers  had  agreed  to 
restore  the  status  quo  in  Servia  and  Montenegro ;  but,  to  pre- 
vent needless  quarrels  in  future.  Lesser  Zvornik  was  to  be 
annexed  to  Servia.  Montenegro  was  also  to  receive  an  addi- 
tion to  its  territory  by  the  corners  of  Herzegovina  protruding 
into  Montenegro  at  Trebigne  and  Nicsic,  and  a  strip  of  land 
connecting  it  with  the  coast,  with  a  port. 

"A  detailed  plan  had  also  been  proposed  to  secure  the  poli- 
tical autonomy  of  Bulgaria,  which  was,  however,  so  disadvan- 
tageous to  the  Porte  that  the  latter  considered  itself  forced  to 
reject  the  proposition.  A  weak  point  of  the  conference 
appeared,  even  before  the  preliminary  conference  had  met. 
This  was  that  it  intended  to  consider  the  condition  of  the 
Slavic  Christians  only,  while  the  other  Christians  and  the 
Jews  were  not  taken  into  consideration  at  all.  This  fact 
aroused  great  commotion  among  the  Greek  subjects  of  Tur- 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedmi  Power.        503 

key.  They  were  particularly  opposed  to  the  creation  of  the 
two  vilayets  of  Bulgaria,  as  proposed  by  the  conference,  the 
western  vilayet  encroaching  upon  territory  which  originally 
belonged  to  the  Hellenic  tribe." 

Sudden  Change  in  Turkish  Policy. 

Before  the  conference  assembled,  a  very  decided  change 
took  place  in  the  policy  of  Turkey.  On  the  22d  of  December 
Midhat  Pasha  was  made  grand  vizier.  The  true  meaning  of 
this  appointment  was  that  Turkey  had  resolved  to  take  her 
affairs  into  her  own  hands  and  to  refuse  to  submit  to  the 
dictation  of  the  European  powers.  On  the  23d  the  Porte 
proclaimed  the  new  constitution  of  the  Turkish  empire  which 
had  been  prepared  by  Midhat  Pasha.  This  constitution 
entirely  revolutionized  the  Turkish  government.  It  provided 
for  a  parliament  elected  by  the  people,  and  made  the  Sultan 
a  constitutional  instead  of  an  arbitrary  sovereign. 

The  government  was  to  be  administered  by  ministers 
responsible  to  parliament,  which  body  was  to  enact  the  laws 
necessary  for  the  pacification  and  government  of  the  empire. 
"  The  subjects  of  the  empire  are  called,  without  distinction, 
Ottomans.  Individual  liberty  is  inviolable,  and  is  guaranteed 
by  the  laws.  Islamism  is  the  religion  of  the  State,  but  the 
free  exercise  of  all  recognized  creeds  is  guaranteed,  and  the 
religious  privileges  of  the  communities  are  maintained.  No 
provision  investing  the  institutions  of  the  state  with  a  theo- 
cratic character  exists  in  the  constitution.  The  constitution 
establishes  liberty  of  the  press,  the  right  of  petition  to  both 
Chambers  for  all  Ottomans,  liberty  of  education,  and  the 
equality  of  all  Ottomans  before  the  law.  They  enjoy  the 
same  rights  and  have  the  same  duties  towards  the  country. 
Ottoman  subjects,  without  distinction  of  religion,  are  admitted 
to  the  service  of  the  state. 


"504         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

Taxation  will  be  equally  distributed ;  property  is  guaran- 
teed, and  the  domicile  is  declared  inviolable.  No  person  can 
be  taken  from  the  jurisdiction  of  his  natural  judges.  Public 
functionaries  will  be  appointed  in  conformity  with  the  condi- 
tions fixed  by  law,  and  cannot  be  dismissed  without  legal  and 
sufficient  cause.  They  are  not  discharged  from  responsibility 
by  any  orders  contrary  to  law  which  they  may  receive  from  a 
superior.  Judges  are  irremovable.  The  sittings  of  the  tribu- 
nals are  public.  The  advocates  appearing  for  defendants  are 
free.  Sentences  may  be  published.  No  interference  can  be 
permitted  in  the  administration  of  justice.  The  jurisdiction  of 
the  tribunals  will  be  exactly  defined.  Any  exceptional  tribu- 
nals or  commissions  are  prohibited. 

The  Proposed  Enactments. 

No  tax  can  be  established  or  levied  except  by  virtue  of  a 
law.  The  budget  will  be  voted  at  the  commencement  of  each 
session,  and  for  a  period  of  one  year  only.  The  final  settlement 
of  the  budget  for  the  preceding  year  will  be  submitted  to  the 
chamber  of  deputies  in  the  form  of  a  bill.  The  provincial  ad- 
ministration is  based  upon  the  broadest  system  of  decentrali- 
zation. The  councils  general,  which  are  elective,  will  deli- 
berate upon  and  control  the  affairs  of  the  province. 

Every  canton  will  have  a  council,  elected  by  each  of  the 
different  communities,  for  the  management  of  its  own  affairs. 
The  communes  will  be  administered  by  elective  municipal 
councils.  Primary  education  is  obligatory.  The  interpreta- 
tion of  the  laws  belongs,  according  to  their  nature,  to  the  court 
of  cassation,  the  council  of  state,  and  the  senate.  The  consti- 
tution can  only  be  modified  on  the  initiation  of  the  ministry, 
or  of  either  of  the  two  chambers,  and  by  a  vote  of  both  cham- 
bers, passed  by  a  majority  of  two-thirds.  Such  modification 
must  also  be  sanctioned  by  the  Sultan. 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        505 

The  conference  met  on  the  23d  of  December,  the  very  day 
of  the  promulgation  of  the  constitution.  On  the  28th  of  De- 
cember it  was  resolved  to  extend  the  armistice  to  March  i, 
1877.  The  proclamation  of  the  constitution  seemed  to  cut 
the  entire  ground  from  under  the  feet  of  the  conference.  The 
representative  of  the  Porte  maintained  that  further  deliberation 
was  unnecessary,  since  the  constitution  was  a  sufficient  answer 
to  the  powers.  Nevertheless  the  sessions  were  continued,  but 
without  accomplishing  anything.  The  conference  demanded 
that  the  reforms  in  the  Turkish  empire  should  be  executed  by 
an  international  commission,  having  at  its  command  a  special 
military  force,  composed  partly  of  Europeans  and  partly  of 
Turks,  but  Turkey  refused  to  accept  the  demand,  and  it  was 
abandoned. 

No  Guarantee  from  Turkey. 

Though  Turkey  was  willing  to  pledge  herself  for  the  execu- 
tion of  the  reforms,  she  steadily  refused  every  material  guar- 
antee for  the  execution  of  this  pledge  suggested  to  her.  The 
conference  then  reduced  its  demands  to  insisting  that  the 
Governors  of  Bosnia  and  Bulgaria  should  be  appointed  with 
the  consent  of  the  powers,  and  that  the  powers  should  be 
allowed  to  form  an  international  commission,  which  should, 
however,  have  no  military  means  of  executing  its  decrees. 
On  the  1 8th  of  January,  1877,  the  Porte  firmly  rejected  these 
demands,  and  the  conference  came  to  an  inglorious  end. 

During  the  sessions  of  the  conference  Roumania  became 
alarmed  at  the  terms  of  the  constitution,  the  first  article  of 
which  declared  that  the  Ottoman  empire,  including  the  privi- 
leged provinces,  forms  an  indivisible  unity  from  which  no 
portion  can  ever,  on  any  ground,  be  detached,  while  the 
seventh  article  gives  to  the  Sultan  the  right  of  investiture  of 
the  rulers  of  the  privileged  provinces.  On  the  5th  of  January, 
1 877,  the  Roumanian  senate  passed  a  resolution  declaring  that 


500         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedatt  Power. 

the  rights  of  the  principality  should  remain  intact,  and  calling 
upon  the  government  to  maintain  them  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  the  state. 

The  excitement  in  Roumania  was  so  great  that  in  a  few 
days  the  Porte  officially  declared  that  the  constitution  was 
purely  internal,  and  did  not  affect  the  rights  of  a  principality 
which  were  guaranteed  by  international  treaties. 

Demands  of  the  Powers  Refused. 

The  obstinacy  of  Turkey  in  refusing  the  demands  of  the 
Powers  lost  her  the  few  friends  she  had  left  in  Europe.  The 
cause  of  this  obstinacy  was  the  Vizier  Midhat  Pasha,  who, 
losing  sight  of  the  fact  that  the  Turkish  empire  owed  its 
existence  in  Europe  entirely  to  the  mutual  jealousy  of  the 
great  Powers,  haughtily  refused  to  allow  any  interference  with 
its  affairs. 

His  imperious  will  soon  rendered  him  obnoxious  to  the 
Sultan,  who  grew  restless  under  the  control  of  the  man  who 
had  already  deposed  two  sultans  within  a  year,  and  who 
would  not  hesitate  to  depose  another  should  it  suit  his  pur- 
poses. Accordingly,  on  the  5th  of  Februar)'-,  1877,  Midhat 
Pasha  was  removed  from  his  office  of  vizier  and  ordered  to 
quit  Constantinople.  He  was  succeeded  by  Edhem  Pasha, 
who  had  served  as  one  of  the  members  of  the  conference, 
and  who  had  distinguished  himself  by  his  bitter  opposition  to 
all  the  proposals  of  the  foreign  representatives. 

Edhem  Pasha  at  once  devoted  himself  to  the  task  of  mak- 
ing peace  with  the  rebellious  principalities.  He  opened 
negotiations  with  Servia,  and  by  the  last  of  February  con- 
cluded a  treaty  of  peace  with  that  principality.  By  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  the  Servians  were  to  retain  their  fortresses, 
were  to  salute  the  Turkish  flag,  and  were  to  prevent  armed 
bands  from  crossing  the  frontier.     The  Turkish  troops,  on 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Poiver.        507 

their  part,  were  to  evacuate  the  positions  held  on  Servian 
territory.  The  treaty  was  ratified  on  the  3d  of  March,  and  a 
week  later  the  Turkish  forces  withdrew  from  Servia,  re- 
linquishing Alexinatz  and  Saitchar  to  the  Servians. 

Negotiations  had  been  opened  with  Montenegro  at  the 
same  time  that  those  with  Servia  were  begun,  but  they  proved 
more  protracted  and  troublesome.  Prince  Nicholas  at  first 
demanded  that  the  negotiations  should  be  conducted  at 
Vienna,  but  the  Porte  refused  this,  and  the  prince  sent  a  dele- 
gation to  Constantinople.  The  armistice  was  extended  to  the 
13th  of  April.  The  Montenegrin  demands  were,  briefly,  the 
cession  of  Nicsics,  which  had  been  besieged  by  their  forces 
for  several  months,  the  cession  of  a  seaport,  and  such  a  rectifi- 
cation of  their  frontier  as  would  increase  their  territory  about 
one-half  its  present  extent. 

Resort  to  Diplomacy. 

As  the  Montenegrins  held  actual  possession  of  most  of  the 
territory  demanded  by  them,  they  had  the  advantage  of  the 
Porte.  The  latter  refused  to  grant  any  extension  of  territory, 
and  towards  the  close  of  March,  Prince  Nicholas  instructed 
his  representatives  to  abate  their  demands  somewhat,  but  to 
insist  upon  the  cession  of  Nicsics.  On  the  loth  of  April  the 
Turkish  parliament,  to  which  the  matter  was  referred,  rejected 
the  demands  of  Montenegro,  and  the  next  day  the  representa- 
tives of  that  principality  were  informed  of  this  decision,  and 
were  told  that  the  armistice  would  not  be  renewed.  Two 
days  later  the  Montenegrin  delegates  set  out  for  home,  going 
by  way  of  Odessa,  in  order  to  have  an  interview  with  the 
Czar  and  the  Russian  commander. 

Russia  had  by  this  time  fully  determined  to  take  part  in  the 
war,  but  being  as  yet  unprepared,  endeavored  by  skillful  diplo- 
macy to  gain  time.     On  the  31st  of  January  Prince  Gortscha- 


508         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

koff  addressed  to  the  Russian  representatives  at  the  courts  of 
the  Powers  concerned  in  the  treaty  of  Paris  a  circular,  in 
which  he  related  the  diplomatic  efforts  that  had  been  made  to 
secure  the  pacification  of  Turkey,  and  stated  that  the  Czar, 
before  determining  upon  a  course  for  the  future,  wished  to  know 
what  course  would  be  determined  upon  by  the  other  Powers. 
On  the  9th  of  March  Turkey  met  this  circular  by  one  of 
her  own  addressed  to  the  guaranteeing  Powers,  stating  that 
"  the  reforms  proposed  by  the  conference  and  accepted  by  the 
imperial  government  are  already  being  applied."  On  the  19th 
of  March  the  Turkish  parliament  was  formally  opened  with 
imposing  ceremonies  and  renewed  promises  of  reform.  The 
great  Powers,  however,  were  suspicious  of  Turkey's  promises, 
and  were  determined  to  demand  further  guarantees.  Accord- 
ingly the  Russian,  French,  German,  Austrian  and  Italian 
ambassadors  at  London  held  several  conferences  with  Lord 
Derby,  the  British  foreign  minister,  the  result  of  which  was 
the  signing,  on  the  31st  of  March,  of  a  protocol  by  them,  in 
behalf  of  their  respective  governments. 

In  the  Interest  of  Peace. 

This  document  declared  that  "  the  powers  propose  to  watch 
carefully,  by  means  of  their  representatives  at  Constantinople 
and  their  local  agents,  the  manner  in  which  the  promises  of 
the  Ottoman  government  are  carried  into  effect; "  and  in  case 
these  promises  were  not  faithfully  carried  out,  the  powers 
.reserved  the  right  of  common  action  "to  secure  the  well- 
being  of  the  Christian  population  and  the  interests  of  the 
general  peace."  Before  signing  this  document  Count 
Schouvaloff,  the  Russian  ambassador,  made  a  declaration  to 
the  effect  that  if  the  Porte  showed  itself  ready  to  disarm,  it 
should  send  a  special  envoy  to  St.  Petersburg  to  treat  for  a 
mutual  disarmament. 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        509 

Lord  Derby,  on  behalf  of  Great  Britain,  declared  that  if  a 
reciprocal  disarmament  and  peace  did  not  result,  the  protocol 
was  to  be  regarded  as  null  and  void.  The  answer  of  the 
Porte  to  the  protocol  was  a  defiant  circular  addressed  to  its 
representatives  abroad,  in  which,  while  it  did  not  entirely 
reject  the  protocol,  it  warmly  resented  the  threat  of  foreign 
intervention  in  the  internal  affairs  of  Turkey,  repelled  Count 
Schouvaloff 's  suggestion  of  intervention,  and  declined  to  send 
a  special  envoy  to  St.  Petersburg.  The  circular  was  dated  the 
loth  of  April.  When  the  Turkish  ambassador  in  London 
delivered  this  circular  to  Lord  Derby  on  the  I2th  of  April, 
the  British  foreign  minister  expressed  to  him  his  deep  regret 
at  the  course  Turkey  had  seen  fit  to  pursue,  and  said  he  could 
not  see  what  further  steps  England  could  take  to  avert  the 
war,  which  now  seemed  inevitable. 

Every  effort  for  peace  having  failed  through  the  obstinacy 
of  the  Porte,  Russia  declared  war  against  Turkey  on  the  24th 
of  April,  1877.  The  history  of  this  war  is  given  in  Book 
XXV. 

Beginning  of  the  Campaign. 

Both  in  Armenia  and  Bulgaria  the  opening  of  the  campaign 
was  favorable  to  Russian  arms,  but  later  the  Turks  rallied 
and  seriously  checked  the  triumphant  progress  of  the  invad- 
ers. Even  after  the  Russian  forces  had  been  greatly  aug- 
mented the  Turks  resisted  energetically.  Kars,  besieged  for 
several  months,  resisted  till  the  middle  of  November ;  Erze- 
roum  did  not  surrender  until  after  the  armistice  had  been  con- 
cluded. 

Osman  Pasha,  who  established  himself  in  Plevna  early  in 
July,  repelled  with  brilliant  success  repeated  and  determined 
assaults  from  a  besieging  army  of  Russians  and  Roumanians ; 
and  he  had  so  strengthened  the  fortifications  as  to  be  able  to 
hold  out  until  the  loth  of  December,  when  he  surrendered. 


510         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power. 

Desperate  fighting  in  the  Shipka  Pass  had  failed  to  expel 
the  Russians  from  their  position  in  the  Balkans ;  but  within  a 
month  of  the  fall  of  Plevna  the  Russians  captured  the  whole 
Turkish  army  that  was  guarding  the  Shipka  Pass,  and  then 
easily  overran  Roumelia.  The  victorious  Muscovites  occu- 
pied Adrianople  in  January,  1878;  on  the  last  day  of  that 
month  an  armistice  was  concluded ;  and  in  March  the  "  pre- 
liminary treaty  "  of  San  Stefano  was  signed. 

After  grave  diplomatic  difficulties,  owing  chiefly  to  the 
apparent  incompatibility  of  English  and  Russian  interests,  a 
Congress  of  the  Powers  met  at  Berlin,  and  sanctioned  the 
cessions  and  other  territorial  changes  which,  with  modifica- 
tions, were  carried  out  between  1878  and  1881. 

A  Fleet  in  Turkish  Waters. 

The  Russians  evacuated  Turkey  in  July  and  August,  1879. 
In  the  following  October,  a  new  ministry  was  formed  under 
Said  Pasha,  and  very  soon  a  pressure  for  reforms  was  put 
upon  the  government  by  the  British,  which  was  signalized  by 
Admiral  Hornby  and  the  fleet  entering  Turkish  waters.  A 
period  of  great  financial  depression  followed. 

A  note  of  Savas  Pasha  to  the  Powers  acknowledged  cor- 
ruptions in  judicial  afifairs  and  promised  efficient  reforms. 
Early  in  1880  an  incident  occurred  which  attracted  wide 
attention.  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Synge,  distributors  of  relief  to 
needy  Mussulmans,  were  captured  by  Greek  brigands  near 
Salonica,  nor  was  it  possible  to  secure  their  release  except  by 
a  bonus  of  ^50,000.  A  collective  note  of  the  Berlin  Confer- 
ence was  presented  in  July  of  this  year,  and  soon  after  another 
was  sent  urging  certain  cessions  of  territory  to  Montenegro 
and  proposing  to  aid  the  Prince  in  taking  possession. 

A  final  note  from  the  Powers,  respecting  the  cession,  was 
delivered  in  September,  and  Admiral  Beauchamp  Seymour, 


Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power.        511 

commander  of  the  combined  fleet  at  Ragusa,  was  sent  to 
make  a  demonstration  near  Dulsigno,  which  had  been 
included  in  the  cession  recommended,  but  the  Sultan  refused 
to  surrender  Dulsigno  and  the  French  declined  to  participate  in 
an  attack  on  the  town.  Subsequently  the  Sultan  consented  to 
the  cession,  which  was  effected  in  November,  and  the  combined 
fleet  dispersed.  At  this  time  the  Greeks  were  arming  and  a 
note  respecting  this  demonstration  was  sent  to  the  Powers, 
which  answered  with  a  circular  recommending  arbitration. 

This  was  declined  by  both  Turkey  and  Greece,  in  January, 
1 88 1,  but  was  followed  by  a  proposition  from  Turkey  for  a 
conference  at  Constantinople.  This  conference  was  held  in 
March,  and  resulted  in  an  agreement  between  Turkey  and 
the  Powers.  The  proposals  were  referred  to  Athens.  In  July 
the  Turco-Greek  Convention  ceding  Thessaly  to  Greece  was 
signed  at  Constantinople. 

In  December,  1882,  the  Sultan  was  in  great  alarm  through 
dread  of  assassination,  and  without  doubt  there  was  good 
foundation  for  his  fear.  It  appeared  evident  that  enmity  on 
the  part  of  some  of  his  trusted  advisers  was  about  to  culmin- 
ate in  an  attempt  upon  his  life.  Early  in  1883  a  fight 
occurred  among  his  bodyguards,  composed  of  Alvanians  and 
negroes,  and  about  thirty  were  killed  or  wounded. 

Difficulties  occurred  with  the  Greek  Church  respecting 
political  reforms,  resulting  in  the  resignation  of  the  Ecumeni- 
cal Patriarch,  Yoacham  II.,  which  was  not  accepted.  Con- 
ciliation was  proposed,  but  the  resignation  was  maintained. 
However,  an  amicable  settlement  of  the  dispute  was  announced 
in  April,  1884.  During  this  month  the  Imperial  Prince  and 
Princess  of  Austria  were  hospitably  entertained  by  the  Sultan. 
About  this  time  occurred  the  death  of  Midhat  Pasha,  the 
great  statesman  and  reformer  in  exile,  aged  62. 

In  August  a  circular  was  sent  to  the  six  great  Powers 


512         Turkey  and  the  Mohammedan  Power, 

announcing  the  stoppage  of  the  post-offices  in  Constanti- 
nople. 

This  was  resisted,  and  the  Turkish  scheme,  having  failed, 
was  withdrawn.  Soon  after  petitions  to  the  Sultan  were  sent 
from  Massadonia  respecting  Turkish  atrocities,  which,  it  was 
felt,  could  be  no  longer  endured.  Commercial  relations  were 
continued  and  encouraged  with  England,  and  a  new  tariff  was 
signed  in  July,  1885. 

During  this  year  a  revolution  occurred  in  Roumania,  and  a 
Turkish  note  was  addressed  to  the  Powers.  Said  Pasha, 
Grand  Vizier,  and  other  ministers  were  dismissed,  and 
Kaimil  Pasha  came  into  power.  A  conference  of  ambas- 
sadors was  held  in  October  and  presented  a  note  condemning 
rhe  revolution  in  Roumelia,  as  breaking  the  treaty  of  Berlin. 
Turkey  asked  the  assistance  of  the  Powers  to  settle  the  Rou- 
melian  affair. 

In  March,  1886,  the  Sultan  ratified  the  treaty  between  Bul- 
garia and  Servia.  As  an  indication  of  the  lawless  condition 
of  many  parts  of  the  Turkish  empire,  four  English  gentlemen 
were  captured  near  Smyrna  by  brigands,  who  demanded  a 
ransom  of  ^15,000,  but  who  released  their  prisoners  upon  the 
payment  of  a  fourth  part  of  that  sum. 

Direct  railway  communication  was  established  in  1888, 
between  London  and  Constantinople,  via  Dover  and  Calais, 
in  94  hours,  thus  bringing  these  two  points  nearer  together 
than  ever  before. 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hllgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  lit>rary 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


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